Hisham Amna, Minister of Local Development, has said that the National Project for Community, Human and Local Development, known as “Your Project”, has financed more than 203,300 projects with over EGP 26bn, pointing out that these projects provided about 1.5 million job opportunities.
This comes in implementation of the directives of the political leadership to enhance the important role of the medium, small and micro enterprises sector and entrepreneurship, as one of the most important tributaries in the economic and social development process in countries in general, and to achieve sustainable development in Egypt in accordance with Egypt’s Strategy 2030.
He explained that your project provides soft loans to many groups, especially those with limited income, to finance projects needed by the villages, which contributes to achieving the social dimension of development by alleviating unemployment, especially among youth and women in the villages, and with the job opportunities that these projects provide, pointing out that this program aims to bring about community development in all governorates, cities, villages, and hamlets of Egypt and remote and marginalized places, targeting different groups of society, especially youth and women who are breadwinners, in order to raise the standard of living for all members of the people through financing small, medium and micro projects and eliminating unemployment.
Amna emphasized that “Your Project” is one of the ministry’s most important initiatives to implement the state’s strategy to create job opportunities for youth and increase domestic production through medium, small and micro projects.
He pointed out that “Your Project” contributed during the month of March 2023 to the implementation of 804 projects with loans amounting to EGP 378m, and these projects contributed to providing more than 7,893 job opportunities in all governorates.
He said that “Your Project” role and objectives do not depend on financing projects only, but it is currently moving towards developing small and medium enterprises, encouraging their establishment, raising awareness of their importance, facilitating and facilitating the necessary procedures to obtain their licenses and the necessary financing for them with the lowest interest.
Amna confirmed that the ministry gives great priority to supporting the establishment of small and medium enterprises through this program and contributing to their survival and success on the ground by providing marketing, logistical and technological services, and overcoming the obstacles facing these projects, in addition to promoting the products of handicraft and heritage projects, through its effective platform and the important “Ayadi Misr”, which tours the governorates of Egypt to contribute to its marketing and through its participation in major local exhibitions to reach the products to large and various markets, which will have a great impact on the success, continuity and expansion of the projects by increasing their sources of income.
The Minister of Local Development indicated that the governorates of Upper Egypt took the lead in the number of projects that “Your Project” succeeded in financing, as the number of implemented projects reached 107,700 projects with a total investment of EGP 13.5bn, through which it provided 731,600 job opportunities, pointing out that achieving development in the governorates Upper Egypt and provide job opportunities for its people by setting up medium and small projects that enjoy continuous attention and follow-up from the President of the Republic and the Cabinet.
The Ministry is working hard through its financing arms “Your Project” and “Local Development Fund” to support the residents of Upper Egypt in all villages and towns and reach them to establish their projects from what they generate a stable income and reduces the emigration to Cairo and achieves economic development through it.
He added that the ministry is working through “Your Project” to implement a number of interventions in the targeted centers during the second phase of the “Decent Life ” initiative, which contributes to creating job opportunities for the citizens of the targeted villages, in addition to contributing to supporting promising productive clusters in the governorates of Sohag, Qena, Assiut, and Minya through The Local Development Program in Upper Egypt, as well as facilitating obtaining licenses to establish craft complexes and issuing licenses to operate commercial stores, promoting the provision of job opportunities through construction projects, and expanding the implementation of the “Your job next to your village” initiative in the governorates.
The Minister of Local Development directed the employees of “Your Project” to rely on non-traditional methods to solve any problem facing the implementation of projects and blow up the routine immediately, and that the implementation of projects is not limited to major cities only and provincial capitals, but extends to all villages and hamlets to provide job opportunities and support development in them, explaining that your project establishes the concept of development in partnership between the citizen and the state by creating job opportunities away from government work through micro, small and medium enterprises, which represent the locomotive of the economy and contribute to reducing unemployment.
