The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat witnessed the signing of a financing agreement between the Saudi Grant Management Committee and MSMEDA, at a value of 150 million EGP, to contribute to the financing of MSMEs, on the sidelines of the committee’s meetings in Cairo that were held over the course of three days, at the headquarters of the Ministry of International Cooperation from 11 to 13 June 2023.

Chairman of the Committee on the Egyptian side Ghadir Hegazy, Chairman of the Committee on the Saudi side Hassan Al-Attas and the CEO of the MSMEDA  Basil Rahmi signed on behalf of the committee.

For her part, Al-Mashat said that the agreement is a continuation of the role played by the constructive partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support and develop SMEs through soft development funds for the intermediaries responsible for financing these projects. It enhances the vital role played by the agency in light of the country's vision to promote inclusive and sustainable growth, job creation and employment, and encourage entrepreneurship.

H.E. added that the total funds provided by the committee to finance SMEs since the beginning of its work amounted to about 1.5 billion EGP, which contributed to the financing of 3,524 projects in 27 governorates, generating about 17,000 job opportunities, in development sectors, represented in industry, agriculture, livestock, health care and solar energy and commercial sectors. It is worth noting that the aforementioned agreement represents a continuation of the cooperation relations between the committee and the agency, as this is the third agreement to be signed between the two following two financing agreements worth 350 million EGP.

For his part, Rahmi confirmed that this new cooperation agreement would inject financing amounting to 150 million EGP for SME-related projects intended to support the industrial sector in all governorates and focus on supply chains with the aim of creating a value chain that provides raw materials and various requirements necessary for production and ensuring that products reach consumers. This guarantees the continuation and expansion of said projects, with the aim to finance machinery, equipment, working investment or construction work necessary for the projects. Rahmi added that this new financing is a continuation of the previous cooperation with the Saudi Fund also aiming to support SME-related projects in Egypt and maximizing its economic and social role.

The agreement aims to finance MSMEs  related to supporting supply chains, in addition to industrial projects in all Egyptian governorates by providing funds for about 520 beneficiaries that will contribute to creating about 1,200 job opportunities and eventually contribute to the advancement of the Egyptian economy. This is in line with the vision of the grant, which is to enhance concessional financing mechanisms to support SMEs and job creation. The committee also provided the agency with competitive rates of return for industrial projects to pave the way for further growth.

It is worth noting that among the most prominent intermediary bodies that obtained funds from the Saudi grant are the National Bank of Egypt, the Agricultural Bank of Egypt, the Industrial Development Bank, and the MSMEDA. That is in addition to the beneficiaries of direct grant financing, the most prominent of which are the EFG Hermes Leasing Company, Enmaa Finance Company, Plus Leasing Company, Value Company for Installment Sales Services, Global Lease Company for Financial Leasing, UE Finance Company for Financial Leasing, and Contact Company for Financial Leasing.