MSMEDA Funds Labor-Intensive Projects with EGP 228 Mln

This morning, Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises Development Authority  (MSMEDA) signed contracts with 11 governorates across the country, with total funding of  EGP 228 million.

The move came amid efforts made by the state to confront the phenomenon of irregular migration and improve living conditions in areas suffering from this phenomenon.

The MSMEDA  seeks to implement projects to develop infrastructure and community in Luxor, Assiut, Minya, Fayoum, Qalyubia, Menoufia, Gharbia, Sharkia, Beheira, Dakahlia, and Kafr el-sheik governorates, as part of the activities of the agreement to address the root causes of irregular migration implemented by the authority with funding from the European Union (EU).

Nevin Jamea, Minister of Trade and Industry and CEO of the MSMDEA indicated that the authority is keen to contribute to the concrete efforts made by the Ministry of State for Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs to implement the Survival Boats Initiative in order to achieve integrity between the activities of the two sides.

Jamea added that the skills of young people looking for work in these areas will be developed and trained in a number of crafts and hand skills to enable them to obtain employment opportunities that suit their skills or establish small projects of their own.

She affirmed that these projects will provide more than 335,000 daily work during their implementation, in addition to job opportunities for management and maintenance.

Furthermore, Eng. Tariq Shash, executive Vice President of the MSMEDA, explained that these contracts include extending, replacing and renewing drinking water networks with a length of 108 km, sewage slope lines of about 3.4 km, paving rural roads of 37 km, restoration, and maintenance of public buildings that include 56 schools, 9 veterinary units, and 20 health units.

Also, those contracts include maintenance of 24 youth centers, in addition to covering the sides and bottoms of the 12.88 km long canals to conserve irrigation water.

It is worth noting that an agreement on "Addressing the Roots of the Irregular Migration Phenomenon" was signed between the Enterprise Development Authority (EDA) and the European Union with a grant of 27 million euros, according to the study conducted by the National and Coordination Committee to Combat Illegal Immigration and Human Trafficking.

This agreement is a continuation of the close cooperation between the EDA and the European Union, which is considered one of the most supportive organizations for the activities of EDA in the field of infrastructure projects and labor-intensive community development, as one of the mechanisms used to reduce unemployment rates for irregular workers in Egypt.