In response to invitation from the AFEI Chairman, a meeting with the Scottish Aid regional director was held in presence of the General Secretary of CAEU and representatives of AFEI.

The meeting aimed at discussing possibilities to make use of the Scottish experience in the field of developing SMEs in order to develop similar enterprises in the Arab region which has an urgent need for such enterprises.

CAEU General Secretary pointed out that the interest in getting introduced to international experiences in the field of developing SMEs comes from the need to create a mechanism to activate the role of the Arab SMEs Fund that was established last year.

As a result of the discussions, it was agreed to continue the communication between AFEI and the Scottish Aid and to prepare for two meetings, the first encompasses Scottish experts and their peers from the Arab countries to be held in Cairo next Marsh, and the second for specialists from the Arab region to visit Scotland and get introduced to the details of the experience.