Indian weave AN INDIAN yarn and textile exhibition was inaugurated in Cairo on Tuesday under the auspices of the Indian Embassy in Cairo and the Indian Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC). Some 31 leading Indian companies participated in the two-day event, exhibiting a wide range of top quality synthetic, blended yarn and textiles. This year marks India's 60th anniversary of independence, and the textiles exhibition is among many other activities during 2007 to mark the occasion. Activities will mainly focus on expanding commercial and economic relations between Egypt and India. The exhibition showcased the wide range of Indian man-made fibres, including yarn and fabrics. According to India's ambassador to Cairo, A. Gopinathan, the exhibit also intended to raise awareness about the wide range of textiles offered by India, and project India as a reliable source of quality synthetic textiles at competitive prices for a booming garment industry in Egypt. India is the world's third largest producer of cotton, and the fifth largest producer of synthetic fibres and yarn. Its total textile and garment exports are expected to reach $40 billion by 2010. Casablanca Forum THE FIRST Mediterranean Forum on the Development of Enterprises (MED-ALLIA) will be held in Casablanca between 7-9 February. The forum offers an opportunity for businessmen in search of regional cooperation and partnerships with the markets of the Mediterranean basin, according to Hassan Behnam, director of the French Agency for International Business Development (UBIFRANCE). Organised by UBIFRANCE and the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Morocco, the gathering is expected to be attended by over 200 French and 200 Moroccan companies, and will also include Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, and Mauritania. Behnam added that the ministries of trade and industry, investment and the General Authority for Investments and Free Zones are encouraging the participation of Egyptian enterprises in such important international venue. Egypt's Commercial Counselor to France Karim Wissa explained that MED-ALLIA is a challenging opportunity for Egyptian enterprises, in terms of contacts with companies from France and other Mediterranean countries, to review potential joint investments in Egypt. Less Israeli input EGYPTIAN goods with tariff-free access to the US market under the Qualified Industrial Zone (QIZ) agreement are now only required to have a 10.5 per cent Israeli component, instead of the previous 11.7 per cent. The decision comes after the US and Israel approved a request submitted by the Egyptian delegation to the quarterly-convened QIZ committee. The delegation had initially asked to decrease the Israeli input to eight per cent, the same as stipulated in Jordan's QIZ, but the proposal was turned down. Egyptian factories in areas covered by the agreement have complained recently of the high cost of Israeli imports, and the difficulty of finding Israeli content equal to 11.7 per cent of their products. The QIZ protocol, signed in December 2004, exempts Egyptian products made in QIZ zones from tariffs provided they have an Israeli input. Inflation hike THE CONSUMER Price Index, the main measurement of inflation in Egypt, rose to 12.4 per cent year on year in December according to recently released figures by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS). December is the first month since April where the rise in the index was mainly driven by the rise in prices of food. The surge in previous months was fed by increases in the prices of other commodities such as electricity and oil. The index gained 0.2 per cent compared to November, due to the increase in food prices before the Muslim Bairam and Christian Orthodox Christmas. However, the 0.2 per cent month on month increase was the smallest since March 2006, when inflation began its current upwards trend. The rise in inflation is continuing for the ninth consecutive month, adding pressure on the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to raise interest rates in its upcoming meeting on 1 February. CBE increased its lending and deposit rates by 0.75 per cent in two stages during the last two meetings of its Monetary Policy Committee. Plastic boom EGYPTIANS and foreigners staying in Egypt increased their holdings of both credit and debit Visa cards by 40 per cent during 2006. This is one and half times the average percentage of increase in the Middle East as a whole, with Visa transactions in Egypt reaching almost $1.5 billion. The number of Visa credit cards in Egypt has increased by 24 per cent, ranking Egypt second only to the UAE across the Middle East. Moreover, the number of Visa debit cards has increased by 61 per cent, which is more than double the regional average of 25 per cent. Total Visa card expenditure in the region exceeded $93 billion, with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE assuming the three lead positions.
