Up to 50% of metro carriages are locally manufactured: Trade and Industry Minister

SEMAF delivered 11 air conditioned stainless steel metro carriages for the ERA

The local manufacturing rate of metro carriages is up to about 50%, according to the Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Kabil. Those were manufactured by the Arab Organization for Industrialisation (AOI).
Kabil said the development of local manufacturing is the key tool to increasing the competence of Egyptian products in local and foreign markets.
The minister's remarks came during Semaf's─a railway factory affiliated to the AOI─celebration of manufacturing and delivering the last train of the first phase of the Egyptian metro. Semaf delivered 11 air-conditioned stainless steel metro carriages for the Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA).
Kabil added that the success of deepening local manufacturing benefits the Egyptian economy in several fields, including the transfer of technical knowledge and the accumulation of experiences in various fields.
He pointed out that the ministry aims to promote research and development through research centres and the localisation of technology in order to support Egyptian manufacturers and increase their capabilities.
The minister noted that the benefits include the rationalisation of imports, which will positively reflect on the promotion of the national industry. The national industry is the primary contributor to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), representing about 18% of GDP.
Maximising the use of all available industrial entities will also be of benefit to the country's economic status, as the ministry is working on the integration of large industrial entities on the one hand, and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) on the other, said Kabil.
The minister explained that this integration can be developed through providing investment opportunities for SMEs as an alternative to importing some materials used in the production process.
In this regard, the minister revealed that he will be holding a conference on Tuesday to announce all details related to the ‘Proudly made in Egypt' campaign, which was launched by the ministry two months ago. It aims to encourage Egyptian consumers to purchase locally manufactured products, asserting that they are not of lower quality than those imported.
Chairperson of AOI Abdel Aziz Seif El-Deen said that the AOI has handed over 160 stainless steel train carriages to ERA during the current year.
Seif El-Deen added that the AOI also manufactured 1 million road lights, noting that during the coming 20 months the AOI will manufacture 4 million more. The company also manufactured 10 million LED lamps for the local market to save 80 MW of electricity.
He explained that 410 carriages were manufactured during the last two year, including railway, metro, and tramway carriages.