Youssef Boutros Ghali: New strategy to develop SMEs

The Cabinet is to implement a new strategy to develop the small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), the Minister of Finance, Youssef Boutros Ghali, announced Saturday. He added that the Prime Minister, Ahmed Nazif, will give further details of the strategy at the opening of the National Council on 26th of March.

The government is keen on removing all the obstacles hindering the development of the SMEs, and then boosting them further by increased financial support, signing mutual contracts and reducing the customs, Ghali said.

The new strategy is based on a comprehensive cooperative operation in which all the government agencies, civil society organizations and the private sector have participated, in addition to efforts done by the International Canadian Development Agency (ICDA), Ghali added.

ICDA Development Consultant, Iman Omran, said that the SMEs are considered the focal point for boosting economic development and creating job opportunities. She said that the SMEs represent about 90 percent of the private sector and despite their humble capitals, they provided one million job vacancies between 1986 and 1996.The ICDA will allocate half of its programs to serve the SMEs, she added.