Egypt's Investment and International cooperation minister Sahar Nasr with World Bank President David Malpass (Photo: Al-Ahram)
World Bank President David Malpass and Egypt’s Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr met on Monday with 30 women who had obtained loans for micro-sized businesses in the Upper Egypt governorate of Aswan.
Malpass had arrived in Cairo on Saturday for a working visit to the country, his first to Egypt since becoming president of the international organisation last month.
The executive director of Egypt's Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) Niveen Gamea praised the World Bank's support for small and medium-sized ventures.
Gamea said the World Bank had pumped $800 million into MSMEDA, to allow it to finance such projects.
Minister Nasr said the ministry's top priority is buttressing micro projects in particular, because they secure jobs for women.
Nasr said about 80 percent of the MSMEDA’s micro-sized financing went to women.
During his trip to Cairo, the World Bank president has said that there are great investment opportunities in small and medium enterprises in the country.
"Egypt has great investment opportunities in small and medium enterprises alike. It has a tremendous opportunity to strengthen its economy by expanding the private sector – including energy, tourism and agri-business – to create more jobs and higher living standards,” he said, during a visit to the new Investor Service Center on Saturday.
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