By Fawaz Karami
KUWAIT, April 28 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's National Fund for Supporting and Developing Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the World Bank hammered out Tuesday an agreement on the second phase of the program to support and develop small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The agreement was signed here at the Fund headquarters by the Fund Board Chairman Mohammad Al-Zuhair and the Director of the World Bank's Gulf Cooperation Council countries office Nadir Mohammad.
"The two-year pact aims to beef up internal trade and the private sector's contribution to the national economy," Al-Zuhair said during the signing ceremony.
He added that the state's finance and backing to SMEs is meant to help diversify the national economy and income resources away from the petroleum industry.
"It will also create new jobs for Kuwaiti youth," Al-Zuhair pointed out.
He disclosed that the agreement focuses on five elements: creating SMEs supportive environment, developing SMEs, promoting entrepreneurship, building a database, and setting up a monitoring and assessment system.
Al-Zuhair noted that the Fund seeks to design and build a one-stop-shop system for SMEs initiators to save them time and money.
The agreement will allow the Fund to draw upon the great expertise of the World Bank in SMEs promotion and development, he concluded. (end) fnk.tab.ibi