Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Hala El-Said signed a protocol of cooperation between the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, PepsiCo Egypt, and RiseUp, during the activities of the World Youth Forum, to organize the “Egypt 2030 Hackathon” for three years to find innovative solutions to develop the health and economic sector in Egypt. The protocol was signed by Dr. Ghada Khalil, Director of the Rowad 2030 Project at the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Mr. Ahmed Habous, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Public Policies and Foreign Affairs at PepsiCo Egypt, and Mr. Abdel Hamid Sharara, founder and CEO of RiseUp. This came after holding a dialogue session entitled Sustainable Development Goals and the Entrepreneurship System to discuss how the government, private companies, and Egyptian startups plan to implement an approach that incorporates the entrepreneurship system to reach the sustainable development goals. The second edition of the "Egypt Hackathon 2030" comes following the strategic priorities set by "UNIDO", and under the supervision of the United Nations Office in Egypt, which includes the health sectors, resilient industries, and infrastructure to recover from the effects of the economic Corona pandemic and find innovative solutions to develop these sectors to keep pace with any future challenges.

El-Said explained that the protocol aims to organize the "Egypt Hackathon 2030" competition, sponsored by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and PepsiCo Egypt, to target entrepreneurs, innovators, scientists, developers, and designers, with the participation of about 200 representatives of young women, males and people with special needs.

During the agreement, PepsiCo announced its financial support in the amount of 500,000 Egyptian pounds for the winner, provided that RiseUp Company will undertake the actual implementation on the ground of the various stages, in addition to providing technical support to entrepreneurs by providing advice and guidance during the “Hackathon” stages.El-Said said that the protocol confirms the keenness of the Egyptian state and the ministry to support cooperation with development partners, and to maximize the benefit from the efforts and activities of the social responsibility of the private sector, following up that the protocol represents one of the fruits of the development partnership and the participatory approach.

Al-Saeed stressed the state's keenness to support and encourage entrepreneurship, and to finance small projects with creative and innovative ideas, as the state, through the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, adopted several efforts, most notably the launch of the "Rowad 2030 project, through which cooperation protocols were signed with the universities of Cambridge, Cairo, the American University in Cairo (AUC), the German University in Cairo, and the Leadership Development Center, to benefit 340 young men and women with master's studies and grants in entrepreneurship. The first batches of these programs graduated in 2019/2020, resulting in 700 projects in various sectors, providing 25,000 direct and indirect job opportunities, as well as establishing 10 business incubators in the fields of artificial intelligence, tourism, and others.