Minister Rania Al-Mashat.
The new platform “Hafiz”, meaning an incentive in Arabic, connects development partners, agencies, the government, and the local business community, to enhance communication and linking between various private sector companies, including large companies and small, medium and micro enterprises (MSMEs).
Hafiz also allows integration between the efforts of development partners to empower the private sector, in light of the pivotal role it plays in Egypt concerning promoting comprehensive and sustainable growth, as there are about 3.4 million private sector establishments in Egypt, said Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat.
She noted that 800,000 Egyptian graduates join the private sector every year. Egypt’s labour force reached 30.969 million by the end of June 2023.
Moreover, the Hafiz platform enhances the competitiveness of companies of all types by improving their ability to access international markets, obtain innovative financing, and make the most of partnerships, by bridging the information gap, allowing the private sector to access a complete list of advisory services, technical support and financing provided by development partners.
The platform reduces the information gap, overcomes the challenges of the language barrier that prevents companies from obtaining many services from development partners and makes information available about the most appropriate financial and non-financial solutions available.
The Hafiz platform allows Egypt's private sector to leverage a host of financing and support services. Companies can benefit from information on 75 financial and non-financial offerings from 20 international development partners, kept continuously updated on the site. This includes opportunities to obtain funding, build capabilities through training programs, and cooperate with partners on joint projects in Egypt.
Businesses also have access to tenders announced by development agencies working to implement growth initiatives across the country. Interaction is simplified through an AI chatbot providing prompt, accurate responses to user queries about available resources and assistance.
By submitting requests to the Ministry of Cooperaiton's private sector unit via the platform, firms can potentially progress partnerships and investments with multilateral organizations and foreign counterparts.
The platform aims to streamline financing access and boost Egypt's development by facilitating private-public links with groups focused on economic and social progress.
The launch of the new platform was announced during a conference on Sunday organized by the Ministry of International Cooperation in the New Administrative Capital with the participation of heads and representatives of multilateral and bilateral development partners.
According to Minister Al-Mashat, the Egyptian private sector has received $10.3 billion in financing from multilateral and bilateral development partners during the period from 2020 to 2023.
Al-Mashat said that the Egyptian government is keen on increasing the private sector’s contribution to the economy to 65 percent within three years [from 30 percent], which is the main goal of Egypt’s State Ownership Policy Document.
The plan, among other recently taken serious measures to improve its business and investment climate, came in the context of Egypt's commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under a four-year loan agreement signed in December 2022.
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