The government and the industrial sector seek ways to enhance Egyptian exports reports Mona El-Fiqi Egyptian exports continue to face the challenge of international competition. The Industrial Modernisation Centre (IMC) in cooperation with the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) held a seminar to look into how domestic industries can enhance themselves in the global market. Entitled 'Raising the Competitiveness of Egyptian Industry' the discussions revolved long list of problems currently plaguing industry, such as the lack of well-trained labour, the absence of specialised industrial researches, mountains of bureaucracy and the need of a unified industrial law. "The aim of the seminar is also to acquaint businessmen in Alexandria with IMC and IDA services which help enhance local industrial products, enabling them to compete in international markets," according to IMC Executive Manager Adham El-Nadeem. The one-day seminar, attended by hundreds of businessmen and investors, was one of a series of events by IMC in various governorates to inform investors of the services provided by different industrial authorities. To overcome the lack of well-trained workers, the IMC Industrial Training Council provides training for industrial labour. The Council pays 80 per cent of total costs of training courses to upgrade the capabilities of the labour force, while the company pays the remainder. Mohamed El-Sewedi, chairman of the Industrial Training Council, pointed out that although a large number of industrial investors are in dire need of thousands of workers, Egypt continues to face an unemployment problem. This is a result of a lack of trained and highly-skilled labour, according to El-Sewedi. "There are 12,000 training centres affiliated to different ministries and government bodies, in addition to enough funds allocated by the government and other foreign partners for training," he noted. "But the industrial sector still lacks highly- skilled employees." Another problem cited by El-Sewedi is that most training centres are located in Cairo and Alexandria, while other governorates are ignored. In Alexandria, businessmen seeking well-trained workers took the initiative in training the unemployed. They began by converting an unused class in a school in Moharam Bek into a small training centre, housing 19 textile machines. After a training period of four weeks, workers are hired by textile factories, hence providing the unemployed with jobs and factory owners with well-trained workers. The training project is located in a densely populated area, which is another advantage. "It is better for us to be trained near our homes," explained Amal Ahmed, a 15-year-old trainee. "Training used to be at factories in new industrial zones which were far away from my house." Moreover, IMC services include a research and development programme which aims at encouraging research and inventions which enhance industrial productivity and competitiveness. Total funding for the programme stands at LE100 million, a figure jointly allocated by the Ministry of Scientific Research and the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Amr Adli, IMC's Research and Development Programme manager, explained that conducting research is one of the important elements that can help raise the competitiveness of products. Hence, industrial countries and multi-national companies allocate a large budget, sometimes reaching 20 per cent of their profits, to fund research in order to maintain their edge on the international market. "We admit that the price of Egyptian products are higher than those from China and other countries," Adli said. "But this is because we pay for foreign research on imported machinery and semi-produced goods." At the seminar, experts believed that if Egypt is able to conduct its own research, create its own design, produce its own machinery and treat raw materials to suit local industry needs, Egyptian products would become competitive. Meanwhile, overlapping laws and decrees related to industry are another obstacle. IDA Chairman Amr Assal stressed the need for a unified law for industry, especially that the current law is over half a century old. Laws regulating the industrial sector were issued in 1954, in addition to a long list of some 76 decrees since. Assal added that all concerned parties should participate in debating the new legislation. He disclosed that the government will begin working on a new industrial law drafted by businessmen by the end of March. During the seminar, IMC signed three protocols with the Merghem Investors Society, Development of Business Women Export Ability Association and El-Beheira Businessmen Association to raise the number of beneficiaries from the IMC programme to upgrade industrial projects. According to El-Nadeem, IMC assists in developing productive capacity, upgrading human resources and carrying out research for more than 7,000 industrial investors across the country. In Alexandria, IMC beneficiaries stand at 630 investors in different industrial sectors, a figure which IMC plans to raise to 1,500 investors. Alexandria's Governor Adel Labib stated that the government and the private sector have one unified goal, namely to remove obstacles facing industrial investors. To save time and effort for businessmen, Labib announced that a one-stop shop was recently opened in cooperation with IDA in Alexandria. Moreover, IDA officials asserted that IDA plans to inaugurate a one-stop shop in every governorate by the end of 2007.
