The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) will begin negotiations with the Emirate Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (KFED) on a new funding agreement, following the current successful cooperation that is set to be finalised in 2020, General Director of MSMEDA, Nevine Gamea, said. "The Egyptian-Emirate relations are stronger than ever. We are proud of KFED's agreed cooperation with MSMEDA as the funds' first cooperation outside the United Arab Emirates," Gamea told Daily News Egypt on Wednesday, following the seminar that was organised by the Egyptian Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), entitled "Advancing Egypt-Korea SME cooperation". The seminar was held on the occasion the Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs at the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yun Kang-Hyeon's, visit to Egypt. This was in the presence of the South Korean embassy staff and representatives from the Korean Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP). The MSMEDA's ongoing agreement with the KFED is worth $200m, Gamea clarified, noting that her agency received all the loan tranches except one last tranche worth $33.300m. The MSMEDA's cooperation agreement with the Arab funds including in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are very successful due to the strong political ties between Egypt and them, Gamea asserted. She also added that the MSMEDA's agreement with the Arab funds enjoys unique conditions in terms of the grace periods, interest rates, and other aspects. The Egyptian government took serious steps towards the establishment of an encouraging ecosystem for the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector, Gamea said, adding that the MSMEDA is keen on taking more steps in this regard to meet the requirements of Egypt's labour market. Furthermore, the MSMEDA is implementing special programmes to empower women and youth with the aim of encouraging them to start their businesses in the SMEs sector, Gamea mentioned. She also said that the MSMEDA focuses on training the entrepreneurs, technical programmes, marketing, and the traditional financial tasks. "We realise our success when ordinary people in the streets recognise our activities and benefit from our services. The Egyptian market needs the sharing of international expertise on boosting the SMEs role and its participation in the economy," Gamea said. As an agency that doesn't receive any funds from the estate budget, the MSMEDA is keen on boosting its cooperation with the international financial institutions. Gamea explained that international institutions trust the MSMEDA as it manages funds well and achieves the pre-set goals. Moreover, the MSMEDA agreed with the German Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) on three agreements. Gamea shared that one of the agreements is specialised in energy while the others focus on technical support and the pavement of a suitable SMEs environment. The MSMEDA and KfW also agreed on number of grant cooperation's, she added, affirming that the World Bank Group agreed to fund the MSMEDA with $200m. In addition, the MSMEDA has offered funds worth of EGP 2bn to the 89,000 SMEs projects the first four months of 2019, she stated, noting, "the offered funds contributed in providing 140,000 job opportunities. We aim to raise the funds to EGP 6bn by the end of the year." Gamea declared that the SMEs Law will be discussed in parliament within a few days, following the cabinet and the state council discussions.
