A new risk capital firm to finance troubled factories.
Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil announced that "Misr Venture Capital" - a risk capital firm - will be launched in the next few days, which aims at financing troubled factories in order to resume operation, with a total capital of EGP150 million.
"The company will help a large number of troubled companies resume their industrial activities after the slowdown that struck the national economy following the January 2011 revolution, through short-term financing mechanisms and activating communication channels between these companies and the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) to obtain technical support," Kabil said during his meeting with Hany Tawfik, chairman of Union Capital- the company responsible for the management of “Misr Venture Capital”; Minoush Abdel Meguid, managing director of the company; and Ahmed Taha, executive director of the IMC.
Kabil explained that the company will begin dealing with the factories which had already submitted requests to the IMC. The total number of cases decided upon has reached 135 cases, 63 of which have been solved so far. Regarding the remaining 72 cases, the company is currently studying ways of solving their problems.
Mr. Tawfik, for his part, said that setting up this company is an important step towards pushing the issue of troubled factories forward. The company is expected to be launched in two weeks, he added, pointing out that the board of directors will soon be appointed and will set the standards and foundations for the company's priorities of financing troubled projects, in order to achieve the maximum benefit from the available funds.