The cut flower business is budding, reports Sherine Nasr Lilies, tulips, carnations and roses were everywhere at the Cairo Fairgrounds earlier this week and for four days at least -- the duration of Egypt Flora, the second International Exhibition of Cut Flowers and Ornamental Plants -- it appeared as if springtime had already arrived. In addition to being a delight to the eye, first time visitors to the exhibition were surprised to find these magnificent flowers are all home grown. "Only a few years ago the majority of these flowers were unfamiliar to the Egyptian market," said Bassem El-Mohandis, assistant marketing manager at Egyptian Sun for Agricultural Development, one of Egypt's largest cut flower exporters. Not only has Egypt succeeded in cultivating new strains of flower, since 2000 it has been exporting them in growing quantities. "In just five years Egypt has built a reputation as a flower producer in the international market," said El-Mohandis. Competition in the field of cut flowers and ornamental plants is as tough as it gets, and Egypt's main competitors include Israel, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Spain and Italy. Yet Egypt enjoys a number of comparative advantages. "Weather conditions here are perfect year round, including in winter," said El-Mohandis. So when cut flower production in Europe grinds to a virtual halt Egyptian flowers are in high demand. Egypt is in a position to export summer flowers to Europe in the middle of the European winter, and 15 types of the most popular summer blooms are now grown. "We now dominate the market for carthamus and mollocella and have become the world's biggest exporter of these two flowers," reports El-Mohandis. Egypt has also overtaken Israel in the production of delphiniums, a market Israel had long monopolised. Comparative advantages include the availability of land, cheaply accessible water and labour. According to El-Mohandis at least 1,000 feddans are currently devoted to the production of cut flowers, the majority found along the Cairo/Alexandria desert road and Wadi Al-Natroun, where wells provide the requisite quantities of water. Egypt now exports 6,600 tonnes of flowers annually, valued at $20 million, with production dominated by just 15 companies. But in an international market worth an estimated $60 billion there is enormous room for growth. "The cut flower business in Egypt is very promising and we expect it to flourish within the next few years," predicts Sameh Bibawi, vice chairman of the recently-formed Egyptian Fresh Cut Flowers and Ornamental Plant Council, an umbrella grouping of cut flower producers. "The potentials of the business remain largely unexplored," says Bibawi, who cites as successful precedents both Colombia and Afghanistan, where governments actively encouraged drug growers to shift to cut flowers and ornamental plants to make up for lost revenue. One challenge the council faces is convincing more businessmen to invest in the field. Another is marketing. Recently, 10 of the largest producers created Egypt Flor with the aim, says El-Mohandis, "of joining efforts, exchanging experiences and marketing and shipping products under one label". The move has already helped the companies reduce shipment costs and soon they will jointly market products, boosting Egypt's profile in the international market. Freight costs remain a major burden on local producers. "The national carrier EgyptAir, at $1,000 a tonne, is the cheapest but flights are not always regular and there are too few for all the agricultural products being exported," says El-Mohandis. But for flower exporters air freight is the only suitable means of transportation. "When we have to hire private planes shipment costs are doubled," El-Mohandis adds. He believes the government should support this growing business by reconsidering prohibitions on the import of some fertilisers vital for the growing of cut flowers. "The ban on specific fertilisers negatively impacts the quality of our products and should be reconsidered," he argues. This year Egypt Flora attracted 53 local producers in addition to exhibitors from Italy, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Syria and Jordan. The biggest delegation, though, came from the Netherlands, represented by an official delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture as well as eight companies who came to explore the possibility of cooperating with their local counterparts. "We reviewed the latest developments in cut flower cultivation in the local market as well as studying the feasibility of greater cooperation between the participating countries and Egypt," said Bibawi.
