CAIRO, April 17, 2018 - A total of 1,577 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were implemented under the Mashrouak initiative in Luxor governorate between March 2015 and April this year, the initiative's manager, Mervat Sayed, said on Tuesday. The Mashrouak initiative was launched by the government in March 2015 to provide job opportunities for youth in the field of SMEs. Sayed said in a press statement that the small projects implemented had cost a total of LE82 million and were agricultural, industrial or commercial. The SMEs provided 5,500 job opportunists for people aged between 20 and 40. Females made up 33 per cent, Sayed added.