MSME sector accounts for 80% of Egypt’s economy

Gamea made her comments during a meeting held on Tuesday at the trade ministry’s headquarters with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative in Egypt Alessandro Fracassetti.

During the meeting, Gamea told Fracassetti that Egypt has taken large strides on economic reform and institutional development and this has contributed to improving the status of the economy.

Gamea also highlighted the close cooperation with all UN organisations in implementing numerous development programs and channelling technical support to MSMEs over the past 30 years.

The meeting tackled the importance of enhancing ongoing partnership between MSMEDA and the UNDP, especially after the signing of a new cooperation agreement last September.

“This agreement targets the upgrading of MSMEDA's institutional and operational capacities and also empowers it to launch its new services,” according to the minister.

Gamea emphasised that the outcomes of a survey conducted by MSMEDA in cooperation with UNDP to monitor the impact and repercussions of COVID-19 on the MSME sector have been examined. The survey included 5,500 enterprises, and recommendations have been made to help counter such challenges in the near future.

For his part, Fracassetti pointed out that economic development a