Egypt’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) has injected EGP 2.8bn into 87,700 small and micro projects in the first half (H1) of 2021, creating about 146,500 job opportunities, according to Nevine Gamea, Minister of Trade and Industry, and MSMEDA Executive Director.
She said that people in the age group of 30-40 years received up to 36% of that funding, and 43% of beneficiaries were in Upper Egypt.
Gamea stressed that the agency is constantly working in coordination with the various concerned authorities in the country to implement the directives of the political leadership by providing all aspects of support to the small enterprise sector to encourage citizens to engage in self-employment. This contributes to reducing imports, supports the national economy, and provides thousands of job opportunities.
Gamea called on citizens to benefit from the various services provided by MSMEDA to finance their new projects, or expand their existing enterprises. They can also benefit from new facilities and advantages provided by the Enterprise Development Law, with regard to the procedures and steps for establishing a project, and to assist in the marketing of products, by allocating a percentage of government purchases for these projects and the simplified tax treatment, in addition to a large and diverse number of non-financial services provided by the agency, including training courses that qualify them to start these projects.
She added that the agency’s branches in the governorates issued, during the first half of this year, 2,654 certificates to classify projects to benefit from the benefits of the law, and issued 551 licenses to reconcile the status of projects operating in the informal sector to transform into the formal sector.
Also, about 1,500 exhibitors participated in 55 exhibitions organized by the agency or participated in its organization, and they achieved sales of about EGP 39m.
Gamea confirmed that the agency’s branches nationwide receive citizens daily, with the exception of Friday and Saturday. Citizens can also call 16733 to find out the headquarters of these branches, and they can find out the details of the services provided by the agency on its website www.msmeda.org.eg.
