Egypt's Social Fund for Development (SFD) agreed with the Sudanese government to form a joint committee for the Egyptian-Sudanese youth partnership in small and medium-sized projects. According to Soha Soliman - SFD Secretary-General, the fund's latest visit to Sudan was to hold talks with the Sudanese government and the Central Bank of Sudan (CBOS) to create a partnership for both Egyptian and Sudanese youth in SME sector. The Sudanese government and CBOS pledged to provide facilities for SME projects and tax incentives as well as to ease procedures, the Egyptian official noted. She also stated that SFD would be in charge of providing financing in addition to other non-financial services. Furthermore, Soliman said SFD enjoys good relations with developmental funds in the Arab countries. Therefore, Arab developmental funds will increase their financings to the SFD in the coming period, she revealed. The Egyptian official pointed out that SFD is working on a joint Arab strategy that aims to promote the SME industry, which constitutes the backbone of countries' economy.
