CAIRO: Minister of Trade and Industry Rashid Mohammed Rashid announced on Monday that the ministry has begun implementing a plan created by the government to promote industry and trade in various governorates in the hopes of creating greater job opportunities. According to the Al Ahram newspaper, by using the natural resources, mineral resources, in addition to agricultural land that is readily available in a number of governorates, the ministry hopes to launch small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) that will benefit the people in their respective communities by creating greater job opportunities and, as a byproduct, pump more money into the governorates. The launch of this plan is quite a feat for the ministry, which, with the help of a number of government bodies, has been trying to exploit the natural resources in Egypt that are in abundance to create more jobs, thus alleviate the burdens of poverty in some of the country's poorest communities. The Industrial Development Agency will be responsible for specifying and allocating an area and land in every governorate under the project to be later used by the Egyptian center for trade research, which will lend financial assistance to the SME's to be launched in the governorates, in addition to hands-on training. The agency will also aid the SME's in selling their products to the local market, Rashid was quoted as saying according to Al Ahram newspaper. The plan is already in the works, according to the minister, who stated that an agreement has been signed between the ministry and Adel Labib, the governor of the Boheera governorate, to create a trade 'hub' or area in the governorate on 100 acres of land, the newspaper quoted him as saying. To maximize on the natural resources available in various governorates, a number of trade projects for certain agricultural products, such as olives and dates, have also been launched. The government is also planning to take advantage of the mineral resources available in this governorate in order to create more jobs and wealth in the community. The minister also confirmed that his ministry's plan to create trade centers for small and medium trade enterprises will work side by side with the launch of the additional 1000 factories that the president promised to establish as part of his presidential agenda. In order to fund this nationwide plan, the Chairman of the Industrial Development Agency, Amr Asel, was quoted as saying that agreements with a number of banks have been signed, whereby the banks will provide the government with financial installments to be handed out in installments, according to Al Ahram. Money will also be poured into trade and industry projects that already exist in the Sohag governorate, as well as Qena and Asyout. Asel also added that the Chairman of the Ahly Bank, Hassan Abd El Aziz, will pay a visit to the governorates of Qena, Safaga and Assiut, where various trade projects are being implemented, this coming May. During his visit, Abd El Aziz is expected to meet with the various individuals and corporations investing in the projects in these governorates, as well as their governors, to discuss progress as well as the financial plan the bank will offer these governorates for the establishment of their trade projects. The Ahly bank has announced that it will provide the necessary financial assistance needed to launch new projects under the nation wide plan, as well as provide money to those projects that are financially in debt in order to allow these projects to continue producing and trading.
