This workshop took place on the 20th of December with the participation of INSME President, Sergio Arzeni and GCEL Deputy Secretary General, Gregory Bird, and the participation of 15 high-level officials from the Egyptian Government and financial and business community. Among them Mrs. Nermine El Thari in charge for SMEs finance at the Central Bank of Egypt and Mrs. Nermine Abulata, Advisor to the Minister of Industry and Trade for SMEs development. Participants welcomed the initiative as very timely as Egypt will take up the Presidency of the African Union as from the 1st of January 2019 and the African Development Bank has received its commitment of $30 Billion for implementing a pan-African free trade agreement. Furthermore the recent Europe-Africa Forum held in Vienna designated Egypt as a key gateway between the two continents. During the workshop it has been shared that the National Bank of Egypt is providing 80% of loans to Egypt SMEs and the Prime Minister offices has recently committed to coordinate the implementation of strategies to foster entrepreneurship and SMEs. The meeting was held in the newly established Science & Technology Parks for Electronics & Resarch Industries nearby the Cairo airport which has not yet been completed and will be inaugurated by President El-Sisi by mid-2019.
The agenda of the meeting is available at this link.
Source: The International Network for SMEs - INSME
