Law No. 2 of 2016 establishing the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, which replaces the General Authority for Employment and Enterprise Development, with its rights and obligations.

This Law comprising 17 articles aims to establish the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority to replace the General Authority for Employment and Project Development. The Authority shall undertake the following main objactives (i) create a guide defining small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by activity size and geographic distribution, serving as a national reference for support programs, administrative facilities, and funding; (ii) develop necessary policies and programs to encourage entrepreneurship and develop the SME sector, enhancing its contribution to the national economy and aligning with balanced socio-economic development plans; (iii) ensure coordination and linkage between national development strategies and plans, and the strategy and plans for SME development; (iv) achieve effective coordination among public, private, and civil society entities involved in project development to ensure integrated work and goal achievement; (v) link SMEs with institutions relevant to their sector's development to facilitate their access to these institutions' services; (vi) develop policies to support local production, differentiated by sector, and identify the main support channels that reduce production costs; (vii) establish an empowering business environment to contribute to the growth of the SME sector; (viii) provide an integrated legislative and administrative environment, including necessary economic laws and programs, to enhance the productive capacities of the SME sector, achieve necessary linkages with large projects in value chains, and increase its contribution to the GDP; (ix) increase the productivity of existing SMEs and improve their performance; (x) contribute to increasing and diversifying national exports, reducing their burdens, enhancing the competitive position of SME products against similar foreign goods, and enabling them to access foreign markets; (xi) protect small producers; (xii) establish a national network of multi-activity SME business incubators (agricultural, industrial, service, handicrafts, heritage, etc.) to contribute to the development of SME sectors; (xiii) facilitate SMEs' access to financial services and contribute to organizing and regulating the project finance market for public, private, and civil sector institutions working in SME financing; (xiv) monitor SME performance for targeted support, train job seekers and human resources, and promote an entrepreneurial culture.
The management of the Authority is handled by the Council and the General Manager, and it drafts its short, medium, and long-term plans for all its tasks, programs, and activities, which the Minister then ratifies after discussion and approval by the Council. Furthermore, the Authority is responsible for coordinating with local, foreign, and international organizations interested in supporting projects under this Law, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates and the Planning and International Cooperation Commission, and the nature of services and facilities provided by these organizations will be determined by agreement with the authority to ensure integration.