WB dedicates dlrs 200 mn to support entrepreneurship in Egypt: Nasr

CAIRO - 11 April 2019: The World Bank (WB) has approved the allocation of 200 million dollars for backing entrepreneurship and SMEs in Egypt, giving top priority to women-run projects, said Investment Minister Sahar Nasr on Thursday.

It has been widely proven that companies run by women are one of the fastest growing small sized companies, she added.

The Investment Ministry seeks encouraging businesswomen to make investments, as well as empowering women to get funds, Nasr said while addressing a session of the World Bank spring meeting under the theme "A New Economy for the Middle East and North Africa".

She highlighted the importance of boosting support offered by the bank to the private sector, along with encouraging innovation in the Arab region.

Tahya Misr (Long Live Egypt) fund plays a key role in supporting women-run projects like "Mastora" project which targets breadwinning mothers, Nasr said, pointing out to the ongoing coordination between her ministry and the SMEs development program.

Meanwhile, World Bank Group Vice President for Middle East and North Africa Ferid Belhaj praised progress achieved by Egypt in the domains of empowering women and supporting SMEs, along with the domain of communication and information technology.

Belhaj also commanded the digital conversion adopted by Egypt's government bodies along side efforts of the government to turn itself into a digital one through creating a digital participatory environment among state ministries and institutions.

Meanwhile, the two sides asserted the importance of joint regional cooperation with the aim of enhancing the regional economic integration that targets improving the pro-emerging projects business climate.