USAID lauds Egypt's small enterprises draft bill

USAID Mission Director to Egypt, Kenneth C. Ellis lauded the draft bill on the small enterprises.

Addressing a conference organised by USAID and Banque du Caire on financing small enterprises, Ellis said that the new bill would offer facilities for launching such vital projects for the sake of increasing economic growth and reducing unemployment.

The new law would also grant these projects tax exemptions and incentives to help solve problems of finance, he said, adding that the USAID funding programme for small and micro-enterprises, in cooperation with some Egyptian financial institutions, had given a total LE2.3 billion in loans to 500,000 beneficiaries since 1989.

Only three per cent of these businesses are in serious financial difficulty, he said, pointing out that 55 per cent of loans were given to women in deprived areas in Upper Egypt.