The Arab Union for Industrial Exports aims to raise exports among its member states by 20% by the end of 2014, said the company's secretary general Moneim Mahmoud. He added that there are huge growth opportunities in light of the industrial transformation being seen in its markets. According to Mahmoud, it is up to member states to look to neighbouring markets, especially Africa, which is a consumer market with a promising investment climate, and one that requires the import of industrial products, especially for roads, transportation, and infrastructure. The Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization, one of the organisations the Arab League, signed a founding regulation with the Arab Union for Industrial Exports Development (AUIED) at the end of 2010. According to Ambassador and former foreign secretary Mohamed Orabi, economic relations between Egypt, Arab and African countries need to move beyond recommendations and enter the implementation phase. On the sidelines of an economic conference held on Monday, Orabi told Daily News Egypt that setting up economic conferences create good opportunities for companies to learn about new investment opportunities in different regions of the African continent. According to Karim Sadiq, Director of Citadel Capital Holding, there are huge growth opportunities in African countries, especially since the continent includes 6 countries which have among the highest GDP growth rates in the world. There are 582m barrels of crude oil in Africa, and nearly 1 billion people in terms of manpower and purchasing power of $900m, according to Sadiq. Investments in infrastructure are among the most promising sectors in terms of growth in Cairo, estimated at $93bn annually.
