Eight banks are participating in the financing of the "Boshret Kheir" project for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), scheduled to be held in western Qantara area. According to sources, eight banks have shown their willingness to finance the Boshret Kheir project. They include the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, the Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBE), QNB AlAhli, the Industrial Development & Workers Bank of Egypt, and Gulf Bank. The sources explained that the banks to be involved in funding the project will sign agreements during the next month and that the contribution of each bank will range between EGP 100-150m. Negotiations have been ongoing with 10 banks over the past two weeks to fund the project and three foreign banks offered to participate in financing SMEs for the youth. The loans provided to finance SMEs do not involve high interest rates and are characterised by a long repayment period, the sources said. The board of directors of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), headed by Mohab Mamish, approved the project that will be located in western Qantara over 1 ksqm. The project will include industrial complexes for SMEs in the textile and garment industries, packaging materials, electrical appliances, and others for engineering industries and medical supplies. Abdel Kader Darwish, vice president of the northern sector of the zone, revealed that the project would be divided into three phases. The first phase will be implemented over 300 sqm to complete the infrastructure for the project, while the establishment of complexes is due to be completed in 2020. The second stage will extend over an area of 300 sqm and will end in 2022. The third phase covers an area of 400 sqm and is planned to be complete in 2024. Project investments will amount to EGP 1.2bn during the six years, Darwish explained, and the required workforce of the project is 35,000 workers, divided over the three stages.
