A group of Egyptian export organizations and the U.S. Government recently partnered to host a business-to-business tradeshow on October 22, 2012 at the Cairo International Conference Center. The event, which promoted a selection of home products made in Egypt, was sponsored by the Egyptian Engineering Export Council, the Egyptian Furniture Export Council, the Home Textile Export Council, the Chemical and Fertilization Export Council, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Forty-two Egyptian home products suppliers, five of which were small/medium enterprises (SMEs), displayed their products. The tradeshow attracted major international buyers interested in importing Egyptian products to sell in their own countries and in their international chains. The buyers had individual meetings with potential suppliers that are expected to lead to individual contracts. “The buyers that came to this event were eager to link with Egyptian suppliers," said Eng. Laila El Maghraby, Executive Director of the Egyptian Engineering Export Council. “This show greatly increased their interest in the Egyptian producers that participated." The SMEs that participated in the tradeshow received business development assistance from the USAID Trade Facilitation Project, which enabled them to build their readiness to enter the export market. The tradeshow and assistance to SMEs was part of USAID's support to improve Egypt's competitiveness and performance in global trade in order to promote economic growth that benefits all Egyptians.
