CAIRO - Prime Minister Essam Sharaf reiterated his Government's full support to the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) through widening the scale of financing and marketing programmes nationwide to provide more job opportunities to overcome unemployment. Prime Minister Sharaf, presiding over a cabinet meeting, reviewed with the ministers concerned a host of proposals aiming at giving an impetus to the SMEs and providing them with expertise, latest technology and opening them fresh markets for their products in African countries. During the meeting, Sharaf discussed a comprehensive plan to provide loans to SMEs besides the role of the Government for supporting and developing small and medium ventures. He said that the SMEs played a bigger role in helping reduce unemployment and created positions a year for new entrants to the job market. Sharaf offered few clear points about how the Government would create an environment to spur private enterprises as the economy struggles to keep pace with its young population and the downturn in the economy since January 25. "The government labour market cannot meet demand for work from those coming into the jobs market?," Sharf told the meeting.
