The Egyptian cabinet is finalising the draft law regulating the SMEs in preparation for submitting it to the House of Representative for discussion within 10 days, the Chairperson of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA), Nevine Gamea, said Monday. The MSMEDA has completed drafting the law a year ago, which was reviewed by the legislative committee of the Justice Ministry, before it was referred to the cabinet. "The draft law will have unified definitions of SMEs, after coordination with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), to fit with the economic variables," Gamea told Daily News Egypt, affirming the consensus between the state authorities. "The SME draft law provides several advantages, such as facilitating the procedures for fund seekers through the one-window system and including the informal sector in the formal economy and legalising their situation," Gamea said. "It also includes tax incentives, training programmes, and plans to expand such projects," she added. The draft law will also enable financing the medium enterprises since the law No. 141 for 2004 didn't include those projects, only micro and small enterprises. She pointed out that the tax system is set to benefit both the government and the project owners, as taxes are one of the main sources of the country's income, hence, it needs regulations to reach the most acceptable deal. She added that the agency has held several meetings with all state's institutions concerned with the SMEs, as well as banks operating in the Egyptian market to discuss the draft law and overcome any obstacle before approving it.
