CAIRO: United States Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey signed two grants on Wednesday worth $617,038, which aim to boost Egypt's aviation and renewable energy industries. The grants, awarded by the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), were awarded to EgyptAir Maintenance and Engineering and to Al Arabia for Industrial and Touristic Development. "We hope that today with mark the countdown for the date of implementing a project which will contribute to the sincere efforts of the Egyptian government in developing Upper Egypt in cooperation with the private-sector, wrote Zakaria Serag El-Din, chairman of Arabia. The grants were awarded to fund feasibility studies which will allow each company to create the blueprints for significant development projects. These grants are emblematic of a growing trend which Ambassador Scobey described as "trade, not aid. The idea behind US foreign donations is to allocating smaller amount of funds strategically to spur organic growth. USTDA Regional Director Carl Kress announced that his agency's mission was to "help support a project, get it off the ground. The $444,284 grant to EgyptAir M&E funded a study to help the company develop a strategy for implementing a new ICT solution for aircraft technology. Al Arabia secured a $172,754 grant to fund a feasibility study on building an integrated sugarcane and ethanol plant near Aswan in Upper Egypt. This latest round of grants speaks to the USTDA's willingness to work both with the public and the private sector. The USTDA has funded over $10 million in projects in Egypt since 1984. Part of the idea of the USTDA grants has been to encourage trade between the US and Egypt. Once a grant is awarded for a feasibility study, the grantee must choose a US company to conduct the study. Afterwards, the Egyptian company is free to carry out the project through any partners, international or domestic. "The Commerce Department steps in to work with the grantee to see if they have any needs, said Amer Kayani, Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the US Embassy in Egypt. "If there is capital needed, they bring in overseas partners. Kayani also noted that in finding grant recipients, the USTDA strives to reflect the changing priorities of the Egyptian Government. Pressed on what the priorities of the Egyptian government were, Kayani replied, "Their priorities are to encourage the private sector. There have been a number of successes associated with the USTDA's projects in Egypt. In 1998, the USTDA granted just over $300,000 to fund a feasibility study for the government's Egypt Basic Industries (EBIC) to build an ammonia plant in Suez. Construction began in 2006 for a plant that will produce 2,000 metric tons of ammonia daily. The plant has generated a significant amount of trade between the US and Egypt, created jobs, and advanced the petrochemical industry in the country.
