Makro boost MAKRO Egypt opened its first wholesale store in Egypt yesterday. The store will offer more than 20,000 food and non-food products to customers and business professionals. According to François Oliver, managing director of Makro Egypt, 90 per cent of the goods offered in the stores are from local producers and suppliers. Oliver was addressing a press conference earlier this week, Nesma Nowar attended. Makro/Metro Cash and Carry is a sales division of the Metro Group, an international retailing and trading company headquartered in Germany. Also speaking at the press conference, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, minister of trade and industry, stated that developing the wholesale trade in Egypt is vital and the fact that 90 per cent of the goods are from local suppliers will stimulate the Egyptian economy and contribute to the development of the internal trade sector. Rachid added that although the internal trade sector suffers from many problems, including malpractice, it contributed 14 per cent to Egypt's GDP, second only to the industrial sector. Rachid further added that the sector has been growing steadily by seven per cent in the past few years. And the aim is to raise this figure to 12 per cent. Rachid revealed that the Internal Trade Development Authority (ITDA) would soon be offering land in the first three commercial zones, located in Beheira, Daqahliya and Luxor governorates. The contracts state that all lands will be granted for utilisation for 40 years, and that targeted projects should be finished within 18 months. Rachid further pointed out that the presidential decree that aims at the facilitation of issuing licenses and starting businesses will be implemented in the new commercial zones. "Creating new zones and markets is the best way to eliminate malpractice and to develop the internal trade sector," he said. Rachid noted that the ministry is monitoring the internal market, offering new lands, developing existing trade zones, working on consumer protection, championing the utilisation of modern technology, and where necessary pushing to modify legislation. He added that the ministry is developing logistical services that in turn will lead to lower priced products. "We will keep encouraging global and local firms to invest in the internal trade sector, as we aim for an efficient modernised market," Rachid said. Financing SMEs AN AGREEMENT has recently been signed to invest $5 million in the new Beltone Midcap Fund, initiated to support and help developing the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) sector in Egypt. Crédit Agricole Egypt (CAE) and Beltone Midcap Management SA signed the agreement through which the fund will "support SMEs capital raise, increase their business volume and allow them to become more capitalised and therefore bankable," said Henri Guillemin, CAE managing director. "Currently, our plan is to provide SMEs with the necessary resources that would help them to overcome various obstacles generated from the global crisis," said Abdel-Moneim Omran, managing director of Beltone Private Equity. Omran stated that the objective is to help SMEs financially while enhancing their performance and maximising revenues at all levels. "This will positively impact the fund's overall performance and investment returns," he added. Beltone Private Equity and Siparex Group, the France-based middle market private equity specialist, share management of the fund. Reform recognised EGYPTIAN Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin received this week the Doing Business 2010 Award marking Egypt's ranking amongst the world's top 10 business reformers for the fourth consecutive time. In an event held by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the award was presented by the IFC's Middle East and North Africa director to Mohieldin in appreciation of the Egyptian government's efforts to make doing business easier, especially in the fields of business start-up, employment procedures, due taxes, required permits, registering property, access to credit, protecting investors, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing businesses. Compared to its 2009 ranking, Egypt jumped 10 places, according to the report. "We do not aim to keep the place we have reached, we aim to achieve further improvement and progress, in light of the race between countries to enhance investment procedures," Mohieldin said. Modernising trade registry THE UNITED States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Egyptian Ministry of Administrative Development and Ministry of Communication and Information Technology are working in collaboration on a project that aims at modernising the commercial registry. The project aims at easing commercial registration and creating a better business environment. "One of the key elements of developing the business environment in Egypt is the simplification of procedures, and that is what the government will work towards," said Amr Talaat, chairman of the Internal Trade Development Authority (ITDA), during a press conference held in Cairo last week. Talaat pointed out that modernising the commercial registry would enhance the authority's role in monitoring the market, including trademarks and copyrights, and improving market services. Talaat added that the modernisation of the commercial registry is crucial for the development of the whole economic system. Hilda Arellano, director of USAID in Egypt, told the press conference: "Changing the way of doing business is a great challenge, but our partnership with both ministries has shown that changing policies can benefit people." Arellano added that the project is still at the beginning stages and there is a lot to be done. "USAID will keep supporting this project till the end." The Egyptian government commits LE20 million and USAID $1.5 million to the project.
