Ebeid reviews with donor countries supporting Egyptian small enterprises

Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid yesterday held a meeting with representatives of donor countries and organizations attended by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ahmad Al-Darsh and Social Fund for Development (SFD) Secretary-General Hussein Al-Gammal.

Al Darsh said that the premier praised the important role played by donor countries to improve the standards of living of the people, particularly the low-income categories.

"Ebeid has spoken of the challenges facing the government, like overpopulation, amelioration of the government machinery performance, eradication of bureaucracy and increasing production," said Darsh.

He noted that the premier voiced the government's commitment to upgrading citizens' standards of living via increasing job opportunities, training, rehabilitation and sustaining Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), adding that the government planned to provide 850,000 jobs during the current fiscal year.

Al-Darsh referred to the government's plan to develop villages and pump L.E 250,000 for each village to provide necessary services for rural areas like drinking water, sanitary drainage, electrification, education and health.

He pinpointed that the government expressed commitment to rationalizing expenditure so that the state budget deficit would not exceed the internationally accepted limits.

"The representatives of donor states and organizations will hold a meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh late in October to discuss buttressing current and new projects in Egypt as well as new sources of finance," added Al-Darsh.