Kargha Oasis, New Valley Governorate. On March 31th 2019 a Delegation from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Egypt (AICS Cairo) chaired by Dr. Felice Longobardi, Head of AICS in Cairo, participated to opening of the Micro Small Enterprise Incubator as part of the Italian Egyptian Debt Swap Programme (EIDS-Phase III) funded project " Strengthening business environment for the eco-touristic development of New Valley Governorate" implemented by the Italian NGO CISS. This project built up from another project implemented by CISS in 2012 funded by the EIDS (phase II) called “Eco-tourism to promote a sustainable Development in the New Valley Governorate” which contributed to establish the Kargha Handcraft Center, an hub where local people can produce and market their products and tourism can find information about the cultural sites in the Governorate.
The new project aims at strengthening the social and economic role of women and young people in New Valley by income generating activities strictly related to local needs and natural resources availability. The project contributes to solve the structural weaknesses of local economy and the fragility of the labor market of New Valley by providing vocational training for promoting social inclusion policy and implementing a micro-small enterprises incubator for women and young people related to potential local eco-tourism’s economic sectors (handicraft, organic farming and ecotourism services) and supporting them with a marketing and communication plan. The project responds to the local needs of improving employment’s skills, awareness on the importance of tourist environment, sustainable agriculture and traditional handicrafts, awareness on gender issue and youth participation in the community development, awareness on MSME's role and how to access loans.
The event was chaired by H. E. Mohammed Salman Mousa Al-Zamlout, Governor of the New Valley Governorate who invited the Italian Cooperation to keep supporting the area with more projects, especially in the agro-business and Eco-tourism sector.
