SMEs contributes to Egyptian economy by 7%

CAIRO – 24 December 2019: Contribution of small and medium enterprises to tax yields does not exceed 7 percent, despite representing 95 percent of the Egyptian industrial sector, board member of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (MSMEDA) Hesham Ragab said Tuesday.

Ragab emphasized the importance of issuing a law to enhance the contribution of this sector to the Egyptian economy, referring to a current act that is being discussed in the House of Representatives.

Ragab said that this bill took into consideration solving a large number of problems that impede the owners of small and medium projects from accessing finance, as it was suggested that projects get a temporary allocation to accelerate access to finance until the issues related to land and real estate registration are dealt with.

“It was also suggested that the usufruct be maintained for company owners even in the event of the death of the right holder, in order to encourage banks to finance small and medium projects,” he added.

Ragab said that the proposed bill also included a tax of LE 1,000 to 6,000 annually for projects worth less than LE 1 million, in case of applying for reconciliation of conditions.

“Submitting a request for reconciliation of conditions would stop and drop crimes related to licenses in case these projects reconcile within 6 months to 3 years maximum."