Egyptian women loan defaulters do not exceed 1%, Minister of Planning Hala El-Said said on Wednesday during her opening speech at the Women Economic Forum 2020 (WEF) held in Egypt.
She stressed the government’s support to the small and medium enterprise sector, as it is one of the main sectors that create job opportunities for women.
“Subsequently, we pumped a lot of investments to provide nurseries in public facilities so that women can work and leave their children in the nurseries for free, which saves money for them. Therefore, women employees in banks increased from 9% to 12% currently, and their percentage in government jobs reached 45%,” El-Said added.
The WEF was launched on Wednesday for the first time in Cairo and will last for six days. The first two days will be allocated for indoor sessions, while the other four days will see tours in several touristic destinations.
The global event is being held under the auspices of President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi, and moderated by the National Council for Women, headed by Maya Morsi. The forum was founded by Indian businessperson and global entrepreneur Harbin Arora.
This event is bringing together over 1,000 women leaders from Egypt and around the world to tackle issues of employment, international trade, women in technology, finance, and much more.
Over the past 25 years, the annual event gathered 100,000 inspiring women from across 150 countries.
During her speech, Maya Morsi said that holding the WEF in Egypt while other countries are cancelling their international activities sends a great message to the world about economic situation in country.
It is a unique opportunity for leading women in all fields and from different countries to meet in one place, in order to exchange experiences and discuss challenges and difficulties that face them, and how to improve the conditions of women and empower more of them.
It is also a global recognition of Egypt’s pioneering role in supporting women’s issues and empowerment.
Moreover, WEF’s Founder Harbin Arora said both Egyptian and Indian civilizations have been in cooperation since the beginning of trade in the Indian Ocean.
“Today is the coronation of Egypt, despite global social crises, the COVID-19 outbreak and the cancellation of international events in many countries. Today we are meeting at least 75 countries from all over the world,” Arora said.
