Legal and regulatory Framework Governing SMEs ... · Ministry of Foreign Trade Legal and regulatory Framework Governing SMEs Establishment, Operation and Growth September 2002 Prepared

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Arab Republic of Egypt Ministry of Foreign Trade

Legal and regulatory Framework Governing SMEs

Establishment, Operation and Growth

September 2002

Prepared BY C MAKARY CONSULTING

for SMEPOl Project

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CONTENTS

Page no.

1. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF WORK

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2. APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY 3

2.1 SECONDARY SOURCES 3

2.2 PRIMARY SOURCES 4

3. FINDINGS

4. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PROPOSED SYSTEM

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5.THE PROPOSED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDED SYSTEM

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1. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF WORK

Our Objective is to examine and investigate the current regulations and

procedures for establishing and obtaining operation licenses for SMEs in Egypt,

in order to identify and specify the key obstacles facing SMEs entrepreneurs, and

therefore to recommend the relevant means and ways to streamline such

regulations and procedures and to smoothen the key obstacles facing SMEs

entrepreneurs. Our purpose is to enable the Ministry of Foreign Trade to take an

informative decision concerning the initiation, adoption and development of an

integrated system that creates a sound legal and regulatory environment for

SMEs. This would in turn increase the national and international competitiveness

of SMEs.

2. APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY

It implies a description of the methods and techniques, by which data is collected

and interpreted.

In this respect, two basic sources are used to collect the required information.

2.1 Secondary Sources

It implies a review of existing reports, studies and literature concerned with SMEs

in Egypt, as well as, compiling laws, decrees and documents relevant to the

incorporation and obtainment of operation licenses for SMEs in Egypt. This is in

addition to the reports issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, and public

statistical agents such as CAPMAS, the Federation of Egyptian Industries and

the Social Fund for Development. The case of one-stop-shop of Mansoura is also

reviewed.

2.2 Primary Sources It implies extensive meetings with entrepreneurs and officials through conducting

structured and unstructured interviews, and collecting related documents. It is

conducted in two phases:

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Phase I: Case Studies: The field research started by conducting case studies that would represent the

various sectors and sub-sectors in which SMEs operate. The intention is to

cover about 85% of all procedures encountered by SMEs when incorporating,

licensing and operating their enterprises.

31 representative case studies covering the various procedures /sectors and

sub-sectors, in which SMEs operate, were conducted. The case studies were

chosen using stratified random sampling techniques on the basis of the

identified procedures. Procedures are classified either by the activity of

business or by the legal form of the enterprise.

Stratified sampling techniques were used in designing and selecting the

relevant case studies. The significance of the sample size is tested by

measuring coefficient of variation. In cases where coefficient of variation

exceeds 10%, the number of cases are increased until the 10% coefficient of

variation is reached.

Phase II: Survey:

The completion of the case studies is followed by a questionnaire that addresses

the major obstacles and problems appearing in the fieldwork. The objective of

this questionnaire is to verify the results of the case studies.

In order to verify the results of the case studies, around 80 interviews were

conducted. The survey covered the three types of activities; Industrial,

Commercial and Services enterprises. The percentage of the sample chosen by

activity is consistent with the percentages of these activities in relation to total

SMEs in Egypt in general in order to ensure that the sample represents the

population at large.

The sample used in both the case studies and the survey covers the area of

Urban Greater Cairo (Cairo, Giza, Qaliubia), in addition to the New Urban

Communities (10th of Ramadan, El-Obour, etc.) as these areas encompasses

more than 50% of all enterprises operating in Egypt.

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The identification of a specific definition for SMEs and the sectors that

encompass them is essential in order to set the basis from which all the findings

are derived. A conservative definition of SMEs is adopted. SMEs are enterprises

with number of employees ranging from 10 employees up to 50 employees and

with capital between LE 50,000 - LE 50 million. This definition is consistent with

the statistical classification of key sources of information on SMEs, i.e. CAPMAS,

the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), General Union for Commercial

Chambers, and Information and Decision Support Center. However, it matches

with the definition adopted by the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

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Chart No.1

Sectors and Sub-sectors of SMEs in Egypt

Leather Products

Leather Tanning

Leather

Furniture

Wood products

Wood

Home Appliances

Engineering

Packaging

Manufacturing rice/macaroni

Food

Plastic

Chemicals

Software

IT

Cosmetics

Pharmaceuticals

Building Materials

Spinning & Weaving

Ready made Garments

Textiles

Cinema

Printing & Binding

Industrial

whole sale of Leather

Shoes & bags

Leather

Furniture

Wood

Whole sale of spare parts

Home Appliance Shop

Engineering

Dairy Products

Fruitiers

Mini-market

Food

Paints & related

Chemicals

Software

Computers

IT

Pharmacy

Pharmaceuticals

whole sale of Fabrics

Garment Shops

Textiles

Commercial

Brokers

Banks

Financial

Coffe Shops

Restaurants

Food

Bus & Microbus

Taxi

Transportation

Economic

Legal

Consulting

Mechanic

Engineering

Practices / clinic

Health & Social

Contracting

Barber

Social & Personal Services

ISPs

IT

Services

SMEs Sectors

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3. FINDINGS

Our investigation into the laws and procedures in the establishment of companies

and operation license obtainment indicates that the problem does not lie in the

written laws and regulations, but mostly in the procedures and means by which

regulations are applied in real daily practices. In this respect, five core problems/

obstacles are identified.

- Absence of transparent listings and / or published information on the sequence

of procedures, specific documents required, and steps / means to obtain

these documents, mostly in the relevant government entities such as the

district. This results in confusion of entrepreneurs and increase their need to

seek these data either from the employees themselves or from intermediaries

such as lawyers.

- Bureaucracy and red tape, i.e. the huge amount of effort and time wasted by

SMEs entrepreneurs in the process of following up during the establishment

and operation license obtained, mostly in terms of repeated visits for the

same unaccomplished task. This is in addition to the redundancy in

documents or procedures required by different government entities and the

lack of coordination between these entities. The above have a direct effect on

lengthening the duration of the process and a more serious indirect effect on

the lost productivity of the entrepreneurs. This results in loosing confidence

in the procedures, forcing them to appoint intermediaries and incur further

expenses to shorten the amount of time and effort lost.

- Absence of incentives for government employees to perform in an efficient

manner. They are underpaid, have limited office space and have low access

to advanced equipment to enable fast and efficient execution. This

discourages employees to work and induces them to search for other sources

of income in order to maintain their standard of living. It should be noted that

these employees have the capability to perform well under better

circumstances.

- Lack of automation. This implies the absence of computerized database, as

well as the use of manual processes, which result in lengthening the duration

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required for each entrepreneur, requirement for a larger number of

employees, need for large storage places and more human involvement in

the work.

- Lack of proper training. Most of the employees follow the traditional approach

in handling documents with no training on the new equipment and methods.

New employees are not offered formal training.

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4. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PROPOSED SYSTEM

In order to smoothen key problems and obstacles facing SMEs entrepreneurs in

the establishment of companies and operation license obtainment, a fully

integrated system that tackles actual and relevant problems and obstacles should

be introduced. The system should consider the following basic issues:

• The system should consider SMEs as a crucial element of the Egyptian

economy as a whole. In other words, the system should be an integral part of

the efforts directed to the development of all businesses in Egypt regardless

of their sizes.

• The components of the system should be consistent, relevant and practical.

• The system should consider the amount of investment to be spent and

administrative burdens in relation to the expected long-term cost saving in

terms of productivity and efficiency.

• The system should not be implemented all at once, but the core elements

should be introduced parallel to each other.

Hence, the proposed system should be smooth and effective without violating

regulations and business requirements. In this respect, three preconditions are

required in order to ensure an effective and consistent system:

� Awareness and transparency

It implies that SMEs should be fully aware of the regulations and

procedures to be followed, documents required, as well as, means to

obtain them. In this respect the following should be ensured:

Provide clear information and instructions concerning the

regulations and the documentation for both establishing a business

and obtaining an operation license. Instructions should be announced

and printed to be made available for entrepreneurs.

Establish an information office to advice SMEs about different

incorporation laws and required legal forms and procedures. A short-

list of experienced and reliable lawyers should be kept at the office.

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The relevant lawyer will be recommended to provide enterprises who

seek legal advice, with information and legal assistance including

preparation of documents required against fees. The fees are to be

determined and approved by the information office.

� Efficiency

It refers to high quality services to be provided at minimum effort and over

reasonable time duration. Efficiency would require the following:

Introduce a system that aims at reducing redundancy and accelerating

procedures. The system should be based on high degree of

coordination between different government entities in order to avoid

red tape and bureaucracy. In this respect, contacts between

entrepreneurs and various government agencies should be made

through one authorized body, in that the entrepreneur deals with one

responsible person through one window. This person should be

highly ranked and carefully selected, as well as fully trained.

Representatives of all governmental agencies involved in both

incorporation procedures, and obtaining operation license, or even

during operation should be made available in the same location. This

will help very much in acceleration procedures, saving time and

avoiding redundancy. In this case, the entrepreneur will be able to

reduce his/her visits to two only; at submission of application and at

receiving the approval. The date of receiving the approval should be

predetermined accurately. All steps will be done internally, with no

involvement of the entrepreneurs. The success of such a system is

based on:

- Elimination of contacts between government employees and

entrepreneurs.

- Minimization of the number of visits by entrepreneur.

- Reduction of the time required for approval through restricting

redundancy, saving time for correspondence and reducing the

number of steps.

The proposed system is therefore based on one Authority – two visits

(one visit for submission - one visit to obtain approval).

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Adopt automation to support the proposed system and to increase the

efficiency of human resources. Automation should match with the

proposed system taking into consideration the knowledge of

employees and the limitation of physical resources. Hence, it is

advised to be implemented in three levels.

Level One: All new applications should be saved on computers, in that

All information are computerized. This can be done

through two phases. In the first phase, computerization

would be confined to basic information. In a latter stage,

when a larger scale of computerized system is made

available, further and detailed information can be added.

Level two: Build-up database for the existing information on previous

approvals. This can be done gradually until all basic

information on existing projects are compiled and fed into

the computer. This would take time (perhaps 2 to 3 years)

and would require large investment in order to set up a

comprehensive computer system.

Level three: The introduction of e-commerce, to be applied to both

applications and payment of fees. This is highly consistent

with the steps planned to be undertaken by the

government to introduce e-commerce. However this can

not be applied by the mass of entrepreneurs due to the

existence of computer literacy for the majority of

entrepreneurs.

Conduct intensive training programs aiming at upgrading the

employees involved in the procedures, and in order to enhance their

capabilities, so that they can apply the proposed system efficiently.

Training programs should be applied to both existing employees and

new employees.

- Existing employees should be trained on job, in order to enable

them to adapt their experience to match with the new system,

taking into consideration the use of automation and advanced

equipment, and software, and therefore to facilitate the procedures

and accelerate the implementation of the procedures.

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- New employees should be carefully selected with the relevant

qualifications, i.e. knowledge of computer. They should have

intensive training, both theoretically (laws and regulations) and

empirically (data processing and computer software). Training can

be done though specialized institutions.

- Training programs involving both existing employees and the new

employees should be considered to ensure coordination and

consistency.

These three requirements; an integrated system, proper automation and effective

training should be considered simultaneously, in order to ensure an efficient

application of the proposed system. It is expected that this will take around three

years until we have full operation of the system.

� Incentives The basic salary of the majority of the government employees is not high

enough to support their cost of living. On the other hand, incentive system in

most of government agents is not effective and additional payments are not

rewardable. Hence, an effective and rewardable incentive system is required

to ensure acceptable and fair income to employees on one hand, and to

create incentives to productive and efficient employees on the other hand.

Incentives should be related to well defined achievements, basically to issue

the approval, after securing all measures, within a specified time period. In

this respect, the fees paid by the entrepreneurs should include two

components:

∗ Fees for the service, which are paid to the government treasury. We

suggest to increase the current fees by around 20% - 25% to cover

extra expenses that are required to increase efficiency, such as

training and automation, i.e. the relevant fees for the quality of service

offered.

∗ Additional payment to be paid to the employees as incentives against a

special and high quality service. Such incentives should be high enough

to compensate up for the low salary. Such incentives could be as high

as 200% of the amount of basic salary. On the other hand, payment of

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incentives should be conditional and related to certain criteria, i.e. the

duration require to finalize the approval should not exceed a well-defined

duration. The extra payment should be charged to entrepreneurs and

incentives should be paid to employees if the predetermined time

duration is met.

Finally, one would conclude that the system is basically based on the minimization of the contact between employees and entrepreneurs, in order

to streamline regulations and procedures through proper and efficient system, and introducing an effective but simple incentive system.

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5. THE PROPOSED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDED SYSTEM

The three basic pre-conditions of the proposed system namely; awareness and

transparency, efficiency, and incentives, set the foundation for a vision for a simple

effective system that takes into account the current legal and regulatory framework in

Egypt. The suggested system requires radical change in both entrepreneurs and

government employees' perceptions and attitudes towards the application of the existing

laws and procedures concerned with establishment of businesses and operation licenses

obtainment. In this respect, an attempt is made here to apply the components of the

system to a typical pilot case study (government office). It should be acknowledged that

the success of such system should be measured in relation to its practicality and

possibility of application in real daily practices. Hence, the objective of this section is to

outline the practical steps required to implement the proposed system starting from the

actual situation, as it prevails at present, all the way until the proposed system is

implemented.

The proposed implementation will focus on a typical one-stop shop (case study) that

covers one district in Greater Cairo, or equivalent coverage in other governorates in Delta

or Upper Egypt. In this respect, the procedures are done in few steps within a minimum

and specific duration at one entity aiming at streamlining and facilitating the establishment

and issuing of operation licenses. The approach adopted in implementing the proposed

system is to translate the three-preconditions into practical steps through identifying the

desks (or windows), tasks and outline the requirements to ensure that the proposed

system is doable.

Accordingly, the typical one-stop shop (unit) is composed mainly of four windows of which

one window is concerned with legal information, two windows are concerned with

establishment and operation license procedures and a fourth window that provides

supporting tools to the proposed system.

INFORMATION DESK - window 1

The main task of this desk is to ensure awareness and transparency through providing

clear information and instructions concerning the regulations and the documentation for

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both establishing a business and obtaining operation license. It is the first contact between

the unit and entrepreneurs in order to provide primary guidance to them.

The main tasks of the information desk are identified as follows:

• Checking legal documents.

• Advising entrepreneurs on the legality of documents.

• Proposing legal assistance and advice.

• Recommending lawyers or legal advisors to entrepreneurs against fees.

• Ensuring that all documents are acceptable with no missing information or

documents.

In order to ensure the awareness and transparency of the proposed system, the following

requirements for the information desk should be secured:

1. Human resources

• Two professional employees with legal and / or commercial background

(minimum 2 years experience). They should have good communication

skills, with good knowledge of computer applications and software packages,

since they will be responsible for answering entrepreneurs' questions,

whether through direct contact or via fax or internet.

• A secretary, with three years experience, to handle the administrative work

and provide the entrepreneurs with the names and contacts of the short-

listed lawyers, if requested.

2. Training:

Training programs should focus on:

• The overall purpose of the unit.

• Training on the used software/ applications.

• Enhancement of communication skills.

• Customer service mentality.

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3. Equipment required

• 3 desks

• 3 chairs

• 3 tables

• 3 file cupboards

• 3 computers with a network link and a printer.

• Internet connection

• Fax machine

• Central air-conditioning

4. Software required

• MS Office, mainly MS Word

• Database, developed application

5. Support tool

The information desk will prepare and provide the following:

• Brochures for each sector and could be extended to sub-sectors. The

brochures should include general and specific conditions for each sector

and sub-sector. They should be made available to entrepreneurs at

nominal fees.

• Lists of the needed documents for each case (sector or sub-sector). They

should be announced or published to be made available for entrepreneurs.

• Information on the entities responsible for the issuance of required

documents; including addresses, contact officers, working hours, fees and

treasury closing time.

• Short list of experienced and reliable lawyers. The lawyers should submit to

the information desk their resumes and pre-qualifications. The relevant

recommended lawyer job will be to provide enterprises, in need for legal

advice, with accurate information and useful legal guidance, including

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preparation of the documents required against fees. The fees are to be

determined and approved by the information office.

6. Space

• 50 sqm. with two partitions one for the secretary and the other for the

professional staff.

TECHNICAL DESKS - windows 2 & 3

The main concern of these desks is to carry out the steps required to approve the

establishment of businesses and issuing operation licenses. All steps will be conducted

internally within the system and without involvement of the entrepreneurs.

In this respect, the technical desks will contribute significantly to the efficiency and the

incentives pre-conditions of the proposed system through the following:

- Introducing a measurable and precise performance efficiency criteria,

which is the time period of incorporation and obtainment of operation

license.

- Creating a motive for the office to achieve the time period indicated, as

incentives will be distributed among all working employees in the office.

Two windows (desks) are involved in this function: window 2 and window 3.

Window 2: It is responsible for receiving applications and documents and determining the

date of issuing approvals. Issuing approvals should be obtained within a

specific period. This window will collect the basic fees (do not include extra

payment and incentive fees). All contacts with other departments and

governmental agents should be the responsibility of this desk. In this

respect, representatives of related governmental agents will be available

within the office to facilitate the obtainment of approvals from their

departments or agencies. It is expected that all tasks will operate semi-

automatically, i.e., computer hardware, and simple software applications

and network connections, for the coming five years as a transitional period

until the system is developed and complete automation can be achieved.

Complete automation refers to sophisticated network both within the office

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and between the office and the relevant entities that would enable the

obtainment of approvals electronically.

Hence, the requirements for window 2 are as follows:

1. Human resources

A manager, administrative and technical staff:

• A manager should be appointed to establish and monitor a circulation

process for the applications for the issuance of approvals. He is

responsible for encountering problems that arise and report to the

managers committee on governorate level. The manager should be a

senior official appointed from the district.

• Two administrative staff that receive applications from entrepreneurs. The

administrative staff will be responsible for entering the application data into

the computer, and for collecting the license fees.

• Technical staff, representatives of the governmental agencies. It is

recommended to appoint two representatives from each of the following

entities: the Ministry of Labor, Egyptian Environment Affairs Agency,

Ministry of Health, Cleaning and Beautification Authority, Civil Defense and

Fire Fighting Authority, Real Estate Tax Authority and Utilities Authorities.

Each employee will be present at the unit (desk) three days a week and will

proceed with the applications he/she received to follow up and obtain

approvals from his/her entity or agency the other three days of the week.

This will be done alternatively, i.e., for example, one employee will report in

the unit on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday and proceed with approvals

in the relevant agency on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. The other

employee will do the exact opposite. Technical staff will be employed

according to contracts from their original entity and hence will report to the

manager of the office and be liable for their duties within the office the

whole duration of the contract. In addition to the above representatives,

around six technical employees will be responsible to finalize procedures

with non-common agents such as Traffic Authority, State Authority,...etc

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2. Training


• The overall purpose of the unit

• Enhancement of communication skills

• Training on the used software/ applications

• Customer service mentality

• Providing solutions

• Team orientation


• 13 desks

• 13 chairs

• 1 meeting table


• 11 computers with a network link within the desk and possibility for network

link between the desk and relevant entities

• 3 printers

• Fax machine


• Photocopier



• Database application

• Network link

5. Space

200 sqm. with 3 partitions one for the administrative staff, one for the manager and one for

the technical staff.

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Window 3: It is responsible for issuing approvals whether for establishing a

business, or operation licenses. It is expected to achieve the

incentives pre-condition of the proposed system. The extra fees will

be collected through window 3 provided that the approval is issued

within the predetermined duration. Incentives should not exceed 100%

of the basic fees. If the approval is not issued at or before the

predetermined deadline, the extra fees will not be collected.


1. Human resources

Four employees (two shifts), i.e., two at a time, to be responsible for delivering the

licenses and approvals, as well as, collecting the incentive fees.

2. Training

Less training is required for employees of this window, but they should be knowledgeable

of the system in general. In this respect, training programs should focus on:


• Enhancement of communication skills training.


• Customer service mentality.


• 2 desks

• 4 chairs

• file cupboards

• 2 computers for data entry of obtainment of license/ approval and payment

of extra fees, as well as access to network to check presence of approvals

• 1 printer

• Fax machine

• Scanner

• Photocopier

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• Database application

• Network link

5. Space

50 sqm. , with two partitions.

SUPPORTING DESK- Window 4: It serves as a support tool that contributes to the efficiency of the proposed

system. This window will be devoted to supply SMEs with both market and

financial information, against nominal fees with the following tasks:

- Supply SMEs with micro data.

- Sell sectoral studies at nominal fees.

- Conduct market studies on specific products and on certain areas.

- Conduct feasibility studies.

- Provide economic, market and financial as well as technical advises.

Based on the above tasks, the responsibility of window 4 will be collecting data and

conducting preliminary market, financial or technical research, as well as, referring

consultants /experts or sponsors (donors) in the fields requested. In this respect, it will

also help entrepreneurs to locate the different sources of reliable information such as

publication issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


1. Human resources

• One manager, with economic or business administration background and

high managerial skills, to head the team of analysts and data collectors.

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• Three analysts or researchers with commercial and technical background

(MBA /MA degree with minimum 5 years experience). They should have

good communication skills, with good knowledge of computer applications

and software packages and ability of analysis, since they will be responsible

for answering entrepreneurs' questions, collecting information from data

providers, creating database and conducting preliminary research, referring

external experts and establishing relationships with donors.

• A secretary, with three years experience, to handle the administrative work

and provide the entrepreneurs with the names and contacts of the short-

listed consultants, if requested.

2.Training:




• Enhancement of communication skills.

• Courses in the financial feasibility and market research area.

• Participating in major economic, financial and technical seminars and

being updated with major events.


• 5 desks

• 10 chairs

• 5 tables


• 5 computers


• Fax machine

• 1 printer

• Photocopier


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• MS Office, mainly MS Word

• Database, developed application

5. Support tool

Window 4 will prepare and provide the following:

• Financial, market and technical data, as well as, macro information to be

collected from public agents such as CAPMAS and Ministry of Foreign

Affairs reports. They should be made available to entrepreneurs at

nominal fees. The data can be published in the Internet.

• Create database and conduct preliminary research to meet specific

investors' projects. In this respect, data should be reorganized and

structured to comply with entrepreneurs' needs. It should be arranged in a

specific period of time and sold at nominal fees.

• Short list of experienced and reliable experts and consultancy offices. The

experts should submit to the window their resumes and pre-qualifications.

The relevant recommended expert job will be to provide enterprises, in

need for advice, with accurate information and useful tailored studies or

reports. The fees are to be determined and approved by the window.

• Establish relationships with governmental entities, agencies and ministries

that have access to funding from major donors or sponsors in order to

provide the window with updated and intensive sectoral, financial and

technical studies.

6. Space

• 100 sqm. with three partitions one for the manager, one for the analysts

and one for the secretary.

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Further Required Steps:

1. Develop Licensing Application Form

2. Develop software

Build on the current experience of the Tax Authority and the Social Security Authority.

These governmental agencies are automated and could be used as a guideline.

3. Employees selection

Governmental agencies will be asked by a prime minister decree to select four of its

officials to participate in a preliminary training course based on which two employees

will be selected in the unit.

Selection criteria to be given to the governmental agencies is as follows:

• University graduate.

• Dedication.

• Between 30 and 40 years.

• Computer knowledge.

• Satisfactory communication skills.

• Commitment to the new way of business under the proposed new system.

The rest of the administrative staff is hired based on a newspaper announcement/ ad.

Summary Sheet: Basic requirements for the typical one-stage shop:

Space: 500 m2 , as follows:

• Window 1 50 m2

• Window 2 200 m2

• Window 3 50 m2

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• Window 4 100 m2

• Space for clients 100 m2

Number of employess: 43 employees as follows:

• 2 Managers.

• 22 Technical employees.

• 8 Administrative staff.

• 4 Secretaries.

• 3 Analysts.

• 5 Office boys.

Equipment & Furniture required:

• 23 desks.

• 30 chairs.

• 8 tables.

• 1 meeting table.

• 22 file cupboards.

• 21 computers.

• 6 printers.

• 4 Fax machines.

• 3 Photocopiers.

• 1 scanner.

• Central air-conditioning.

• Internet connection.

Software required:

• MS Office, mainly MS Word.

• Database, developed application.

• Network link.

Documents

Legal and regulatory Framework Governing SMEs ... · Ministry of Foreign Trade Legal and regulatory Framework Governing SMEs Establishment, Operation and Growth September 2002 Prepared