The Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE) will offer soft loans with a 5% diminishing interest rate to small milk producers, as part of the country’s efforts to increase and support milk collection centres nationwide, according to ABE Vice Chairperson Samy Abdel Sadik.
Abdel Sadik explained that the offered loans come with the lowest interest rate for small- and medium-sized enterprises, stressing that the bank provides such facilitations only to state-supported projects.
Mohamed Ahmed Morsy, Minister of State for Military Production, held a meeting, on Tuesday, with the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, to follow up on the progress of the milk collection centres project.
Morsy said the project aims to raise the efficiency of the local milk collection industry, in the framework of a general vision to protect the health of Egyptians by raising food safety standards using the best expertise in this field.
For his part, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Elsayed Elkosayer, confirmed that 205 milk collection centres are currently being prepared, whether being established or developed according to international standards.
In the first phase of the national project to develop milk collection centres, the Ministry of State for Military Production will supply devices and equipment at lower prices and a longer warranty period of 10 to 20 years, compared to imported equipment.
Mohamed Bakr, the Ministry of State for Military Production spokesperson, said the ministry’s affiliated entities are working to meet the needs of milk collection centres of devices and equipment. He stressed that the project is a promising opportunity to localize the industry, within the framework of the state’s tendency to rely on locally made products.
Mohamed Elkersh, the Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson, said the efforts made by the Egyptian state to develop the agricultural sector have witnessed great leaps since 2014. He noted that the new project to establish and develop milk collection centres will have a positive impact on the whole sector.
