Deputy Minister of Planning, South Korean Delegation discuss means to reach attractive legislative environment startups ‘investments in Egypt.

Dr. Ahmed Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development, received recently a delegation from South Korea that is visiting Egypt in response to an invitation from the Egyptian Initiative for Business Climate Reform “Irada” under the supervision of the Ministry of Planning in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

 

The visit is considered part of the background of ongoing cooperation between the two sides in the field of preparing policies and legislative studies. This is aimed at creating an attractive legislative environment for investment and financing startups in Egypt.

The meeting witnessed the presence of Dr. Heba Shaheen, Executive Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Business Climate Reform "Irada", Dr. Sharifa Sherif, Executive Director of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD) - the training arm of the Ministry - Ambassador Hazem Khairat, Supervisor of the International Cooperation Office, and Dr. Ghada Khalil, Director of the Rowad 2030 Project and Ms. Reem El-Saadi, Regional Director for Small Business Support in Egypt at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

During the meeting, Dr. Ahmed Kamali stressed the importance of startups, referring to the efforts of the Ministry of Planning in this regard, represented by the Rowad 2030 project, which helps young people and entrepreneurs turn their ideas into projects on the ground, as well as the role of the NIGSD and the training programs it provides to support youth and entrepreneurs.

The Deputy Minister of Planning referred to the role of some authorities in the Egyptian state in supporting emerging companies and small and medium enterprises. He stressed the importance of integration between these efforts and the development of an effective strategy to support emerging, medium, and small companies.

Kamali explained that according to the data of the latest economic census issued in Egypt, there is a very large percentage of micro and small enterprises, while there is a limited number of medium enterprises, stressing that in this regard work must be done to develop small and micro enterprises to turn them into medium-sized enterprises which are characterized by great productivity and are the largest among that type of company.

Dr. Ahmed Kamali also stressed Egypt's large workforce. He stressed the importance of training these workers in various Egyptian governorates so that we can reach the main goal of increasing productivity.

Dr. Heba Shaheen explained that the visit of the Korean delegation comes as part of a series of mutual visits between the two countries, preceded by the visit of an Egyptian delegation headed by Irada to the State of South Korea, intending to bring about a comprehensive change in the framework governing the work of start-up companies and entrepreneurship in Egypt, and strengthen the image of Egypt as an attractive environment for investment and bring about the desired legislative reform, with the support of the Korean government, to achieve growth in the volume of direct investments, as well as encourage domestic investment and provide an attractive alternative to the exit of investment to foreign markets.