As President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in Tuesday for his third term before the parliament, the Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) highlighted the significant progress the micro, small, and medium-sized industry witnessed under his leadership, according to a Cabinet statement. MSMEDA CEO Basil Rahmi commended the President's unprecedented focus on this sector, launching various initiatives to support entrepreneurs and facilitate business establishment. Rahmi noted that since July 2014, the agency has provided over 50 billion pounds in funding for the micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs), reflecting a three-fold growth. This has generated over 3 million job opportunities. Upper Egypt received 47 per cent of the financing, Lower Egypt 36 per cent, urban areas 12 per cent, and border areas 5 per cent. Non-financial services included issuing licences, classification certificates, national IDs, tax cards, and social insurance. This is in addition to training programmes for more than 71,000 citizens. Furthermore, 1,283 nationwide exhibitions facilitated sales totalling nearly 1.143 billion pounds. In support of the Hayah Kareema (Decent Life) initiative, the agency allocated over 3 billion pounds, funding 116,800 projects and creating approximately 202,000 jobs. Infrastructure projects received over 3 billion pounds, contributing to community development and national objectives.
