The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority has launched an initiative to train 10,000 entrepreneurs with the goal of providing them with the necessary skills and knowledge to establish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and successfully manage their products as well as market them.
According to the Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil, the ministry is paying great attention to developing the sector of SMEs and microenterprises. It also encourages encouraging entrepreneurship, as it is the main engine for innovation and development. He noted that there are 2.5 million SMEs and microenterprises in Egypt, with over 75% of the total workforce being part of them, and 17% of these enterprises exporting their products abroad.
Kabil witnessed a celebration organised by the agency on Tuesday in cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO) on the occasion of the graduation of a batch of trainers for the “Start and Improve Your Project” programme, in the presence of the CEO of the agency, Nevine El Gamea, and the director of ILO North Africa, Peter Van Rooij.
According to El Gamea, the programme, which is implemented by the agency with the ILO and funded by the Canadian side, is considered one of the main mechanisms in developing the skills of entrepreneurs and helping them face challenges as well as encourage them to start their projects.
She explained that this cooperation started since 2014 with the aim of implementing the aforementioned program which qualifies entrepreneurs to start and manage their projects as well as achieve sustainability.
“The conditions of joining the programme are simple and only require seriousness in terms of attending the training and that the trainees would be Egyptians aged 20-50, with a medium, above medium, or high educational degree and the desire to establish their own projects,” El Gamea said.
She added that the agency managed to train 2,889 entrepreneurs so far through 126 training courses. About 105 trainers have graduated so far, and another programme was launched to train the main trainers.
For his part, Rooij said that the cooperation with the agency has started in 2014 and will continue to offer training courses that suit the local needs in the field of developing projects.
