CAIRO: Egypt called for increased industrial cooperation between African countries in the Extraordinary Session of the Conference of African Ministers of Industry (CAMI) that convened on Tuesday in the South African city of Midrand. Increasing Africa's industrial competitiveness in the global economy is at the top of the agenda. This issue has received a lot of attention, which is evident in the recent resolution to devote the planned January 2008 African Union Summit to the theme of "African Industrialization. The two-day extraordinary session will work on a comprehensive industrial development action plan that will be submitted to the African Summit for approval. The African ministers will also discuss Egypt's proposal concerning technological advancements in industry as well as the need for development in this domain to compete on the international level and increase exports. "Egypt's participation at this conference is due to our eagerness to encourage and support industrial cooperation on the African continent, especially that there are many opportunities to achieve industrial development through optimum utilization of natural resources, Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid said in the session's opening speech. The purpose of this Extraordinary Session of the CAMI - organized jointly by the African Union Commission and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) - is to bring together African ministers of industry, experts in industrial development and industrialists to brainstorm on some of the key issues for development. An important point to be covered by the session will be "Production diversification from natural resources to manufactured products. Other sessions will be held on energy production for industrial development as well as the technology transfer and training. The conclusions and recommendations of the conference will serve as input for the preparation of the draft declaration to be submitted for approval to the summit in January. The lack of industrialization in Africa has contributed to its current slow rate of economic growth, contributing less than one percent of global manufacturing. Despite its natural resource endowment, Africa continues to be poor because it faces difficulty in converting its abundant raw materials into finished products. The African industrial development strategy will be based on the processing of its key natural resources, and the continent should move from resource-based economies towards manufacturing-based economies in order to benefit from rapid economic growth and development. "This development is mandatory in light of the economic globalization era we live in and is necessary to improve the living standards of the African people, to combat poverty, create industrial job opportunities and improve infrastructure, Rachid said. Egypt had hosted the 17th CAMI meeting in June 2006 that was attended by all its member states and regional, sub-regional and inter-governmental organizations. During his trip, Rachid discussed with his South African counterpart Mandisi Mpahlwa ways to enhance cooperation between both countries including technology transfer and human resources development.
