Switzerland funds UNIDO project to stimulate business creation and employment in Egypt
Switzerland funds UNIDO project to stimulate business creation and employment in Egypt
Source : UNIDO
16-Mar-2017
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO) Representative in Egypt, Giovanna Ceglie, today concluded an
agreement with the authorities in Egypt to implement a project on
“Inclusive and sustainable local economic development in upper Egypt –
Sohag”. On the Egyptian side, the signatories included Hesham el Sherif,
Minister of Local Development, Said Hindam, Assistant Foreign Minister,
and Ayman Abdelmoneim, Governor of Sohag. The signing ceremony was also
attended by Markus Leitner, Switzerland’s Ambassador to Egypt.
The
US$1.2m initiative, funded by the Government of Switzerland, will
improve the well-being of at least 1,000 families in two districts of
Sohag. This will be achieved by encouraging business creation,
increasing the productivity and profitability of small companies and
farms, employment promotion, and by accelerating the participatory
planning of sectoral development.
Minister of
Local Development, el Sherif, said he highly valued his country’s
cooperation with UNIDO, emphasizing that “this UNIDO approach is exactly
what Egypt needs, and we need to work together to upscale such
initiatives”.
Ambassador Leitner assured the
Egyptian partners of the long-term nature of the Swiss development
efforts in the country. “This is not our first project with UNIDO in
Egypt and it will definitely not be our last,” he said.
The
project builds on the successful scalable business models of the UNIDO
Hayat project in Minya. The Organization has been supporting Egypt’s
progress in achieving social and economic growth through the promotion
of industrial development for employment generation and environmental
sustainability.