Executive Director of the Industrial Modernization Centre (IMC) Ahmed Taha said in a statement Saturday that the services of the IMC are being developed to meet the needs of the industrial sector and the priorities of the current phase. The alternations to the services are hoped to increase production, improve product quality, and increase growth and export rates for industrial entities. Taha said that the IMC has several priorities throughout the next year, including: encouraging alternative and renewable energy use, making cities "green", maximising the use of conventional energy, and implementing the principles of clean production in industry. The IMC also announced their intention to launch programmes to ration production costs, reduce waste, and introduce global technology. Other programmes will develop the value-added chain of industrial sectors and increase productivity and competitiveness for small enterprises. Taha added that approximately 1,044 companies have benefitted from the IMC's services from 1 July through the end of May. IMC succeeded in providing approximately 2,223 services to these companies, reflecting an increase in companies and jobs within the industrial sector. IMC aims to provide 2,825 services to about 995 companies for the 2014/2015 fiscal year (FY). According to Taha, IMC's work plan is composed of a four-point plan, the first of which is to increase the use alternative and renewable energy, and eventually converting Borg El Arab into an environmentally-friendly city by using natural resources to reduce industrial emissions. The second point is to help medium-sized enterprises to reduce their production costs. The programme will target 1,000 enterprises and will be carried out over 24 months. The third is to provide a financial services programme to support struggling factories and to help them obtain necessary funding; and finally, build a sustainable development and entrepreneurship programme to encourage businesses to consider social responsibility. Taha explained that the Value Chain Development Program will affect 100 industrial establishments and will work to reduce costs, increase market shares, maximise competitiveness, achieve vertical integration within the selected value chains, and create employment opportunities to link small- and medium-sized enterprises with larger entities. The programme will target a number of sectors, from clothing to the agro-processing industry. He added that IMC will hold several meetings with representatives of the Chambers of Industry and industrial sectors in order to continuously identify their needs and increase competitiveness, improve productivity, and raise these sectors' value added.
