Port Said – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in cooperation with the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce and the Port Said Chamber of Commerce, celebrated the success of a new business services center in Port Said.  Since its opening in February, the Port Said Tamayouz Center has provided services for over 21,000 customers. 

“Reducing the amount of time it takes to start a business gives owners more time to run their businesses, generate profits, and contribute to the economy,” said Dr. Mary C. Ott, USAID Mission Director in Egypt.  “USAID is proud to support Egypt in achieving its business goals – including the registration of over 27,000 businesses since 2013 through Tamayouz Centers in Alexandria, Qaliyoubia, and Port Said.”

The Tamayouz model makes it easier for Egyptians to start and operate businesses by bringing registration, licensing, and other required government processes together under one roof.  It allows business owners to obtain both the ministerial approvals for starting a business and the municipal approvals for operating a business.  Existing Tamayouz Centers in Alexandria and Qaliyoubia have reduced the business registration process from days to hours. 

This initiative is one facet of Egypt’s partnership with the American people that promotes job creation, economic recovery and reform, private sector business growth, and a stronger trade and investment environment.  Over the past two years, USAID activities have led to new or better full-time employment for over 40,000 people and short-term jobs for another 20,000. These projects are part of the nearly $30 billion that the American people, through USAID, have invested in Egypt since 1975.  A diverse trade and investment relationship has made America Egypt’s largest bilateral trading partner and a significant investor in Egypt’s future, with total investments of almost $17 billion responsible for hundreds of thousands of Egyptian jobs.