Nevine Gamea, Minister of Trade and Industry and Executive Director of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA), has met with Mahmoud Shaarawy, Minister of Local Development, to discuss preparing a comprehensive database for the MSMEs sector. Gamea explained, during the meeting, that cooperation mechanisms between MSMEDA and the Ministry of Local Development were discussed to develop an integrated database for all MSMEs operating in the Egyptian market, whether they are from the formal or informal sector. The minister pointed out that setting up a database for establishments operating in the Egyptian market works to achieve the objectives of the Egyptian state's plan to develop the Egyptian economy and implement comprehensive and sustainable economic reform plans, pointing out that it was agreed to form a working group from MSMEDA and the Ministry of Local Development and all concerned parties to set the general framework for the mechanism of data and information exchange. Gamea pointed out that MSMEDA is about to launch an expanded campaign to educate citizens who wish to establish new projects or those wishing to expand their existing projects, and to introduce them to the advantages and incentives provided by the SMEs Development Law and encourage them to switch from the informal sector to the formal sector. For his part, Minister Shaarawy affirmed his ministry's keenness to achieve coordination and consensus between the local administration agencies in all governorates and MSMEDA to ensure the implementation of the new law regulating this segment of projects. Shaarawy directed the formation of a committee of specialists and experts from the ministry to meet with officials of the agency to coordinate and put in place mechanisms that ensure the issuance of licenses through the legal mechanism and without any kind of duplication of procedures. He pointed to the importance of the awareness campaign that will be launched by the MSMEDA to inform citizens in all parts of Egypt of the advantages and incentives included in the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Law. Shaarawy said that the criteria that will be used in collecting data for small, medium and micro enterprises must be observed in order to ensure the quality and accuracy of the data. Khairat Barakat, head of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, also attended the meeting. He indicated that the number of private sector establishments in Egypt reached 3.7 million, according to a comprehensive survey conducted by the agency in 2017, pointing to the importance of unifying efforts between the various ministries and relevant authorities to facilitate the circulation of data to develop a comprehensive picture about SMEs. Moreover, Mohamed Omran, Chairperson of the Financial Regulatory Authority, stressed the importance of unifying the data of owners of SMEs in Egypt to facilitate their access to all services and incentives that are made available to the owners of these projects, whether through state agencies or through financing companies and associations operating under the authority's supervision. Tarek Shash, Vice Executive Director of MSMEDA, also confirmed that the agency began implementing the first steps to activate the law by submitting a project classification certificate that allows owners of existing projects to benefit from the various advantages and facilities provided by the law through various ministries and relevant authorities, and stated that project owners can apply to obtain this certificate, through the website www.msmeda.org.eg or by going to the branches.
