Export Council for Engineering Industries plans to increase its exports to $30bn, said council chairperson Amr Aboufreikha. He did not specify a time frame for achieving this goal, but said the council had prepared a study on global markets and leading exporters, seeking to benefit from those experiences. Council exports now amount to $2bn a year and Aboufreikha's statements seemed very optimistic compared to the chronic feebleness of Egypt's total exports, which recently hit $22.5bn during the past fiscal year. "The council's plan to increase exports started with the study of three markets—Turkey, India, and Morocco—and we found that they have several main axes to focus on, including education and the preparation of factories for export," said Aboufreikha during his speech at the fourth annual summit of the automotive sector. He said that the Export Council ranks 70th in the world in the value of exports from a total of 80 countries surveyed by international markets. He pointed out that the sectors of household appliances and automotive components are the most important sectors that have a significant competitive advantage in exporting, in addition to the excellence of Egyptian companies in these sectors. He said that the council is seeking to acquire 10% of African market imports in accordance with the plan and the state's orientation towards trade cooperation with the continent. "Egypt has many partnerships and trade agreements, technology, standards, and Egyptian controls in relation to products that suit and match the needs of the African market." The country is currently increasing its exports to reduce the trade gap of $35bn. Exports benefited from the liberalisation of the currency exchange rate a year ago, and rose by 11% in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year. "Only ten companies account for 85% of Egypt's exports of engineering products, two of which control 50% of total exports," said Aboufreikha. "We have 25 companies exporting from a total of 4,000 companies registered in the Chamber of Engineering Industries, so we are working to expand the export base of companies, especially small and medium enterprises," said Aboufreikha. He continued saying, "we started to help companies that do not export in the development of their plants and the companies from inside to get them to export."
