Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has stressed the state's keenness on developing the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)sector in Egypt.
The president made the remarks during a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Executive Director of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) Neven Gamea on Monday.
During the meeting, the president ordered more funds to be channeled into SMEs in the coming period to provide more job opportunities for the youth, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said.
The president also called for increasing the agency's resources to give a push to the Egyptian economy and spread the culture of entrepreneurship.
The meeting dealt with services offered by the agency, including its role in a project to convert public transportation vehicles to run on natural gas, in addition to another project to establish 13 industrial complexes nationwide.
Gamea said the agency offered a total of EGP 2.8 billion worth of loans to fund 111,000 SMEs during the period from January to the end of June 2019.
Such loans secured job opportunities for 175,000 youths, she said, adding that her agency also pumped EGP 35 million into infrastructure and social development projects.
In 2018, the agency's contribution to the Gross Domestic Product amounted to 1.1 percent, Gamea noted.
Short link: