Exports from engineering industries during the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal year (FY) 2019/2020 witnessed an increase of 9% reaching $636m, compared to $587m during Q1 FY 2018/2019. Chairperson of the Engineering Export Council of Egypt (EEC), Amr Abu Freikha, said that the most important engineering sectors that contributed to this increase are electrical and household appliances, electrical and electronic industries, machinery and equipment, tableware and kitchenware, metals, and metalworking products. Abu Fraikha pointed out that the most important countries that receive Egyptian engineering products exports are the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Slovakia, France, Iraq, Algeria, and Syria. “The council supports engineering industries through opening new markets for its products and upgrading exports to existing markets, and increasing the base of exporters through working on several different issues,” he added. On the most prominent of these issues, Abu Fraikha stated that the council gave priority to international marketing, where a specialised exhibition for the sectors of household appliances, electrical appliances, tableware, and kitchen (Egypt HATS) was organised in September 2019 for the first time in Egypt, with the participation of 34 Egyptian companies and 60 major buyers and importers from 19 African and Arab countries. Accordingly, 550 bilateral meetings were held between the two sides in order to reach export contracts. Moreover, the council participated in the Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) which was organised in Dubai, UAE from 21 to 23 October 2019, where an Egyptian pavilion was organised made up of five participants from the largest Egyptian companies, working in the water and electricity technology sectors in Egypt, with the aim of opening new markets for Egyptian products in these sectors, he noted. Furthermore, it is also scheduled to participate in The Inspired Home Show on 14-17 March 2020, while the council will prepare a mission of foreign buyers to Egypt, representing the automotive components sector on the side-lines of the Autotec Expo 2019 starting on the 13 to 15 December 2019. In addition, they will organise a visit of a delegation from the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), and other major German automotive companies to Egypt on 16-17 December 2019 in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry. For his part, Undersecretary of the EEC, Sherif Al-Sayad, affirmed the council's interest in organising trade missions to promising markets, like the African market, where between 2017-2019 a number of missions were organised and sent to Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Rwanda. These missions include the organisation of bilateral meetings for each Egyptian company with their counterparts from African countries while a trade mission is being organised to Senegal from 25 to 29 November 2019 with the participation of 17 engineering companies. Moreover, a trade mission to Jordan is also currently prepared for February 2020. EEC's Executive Director Maha Saleh pointed out that 50 detailed reports have been prepared in 2019 on various international markets, and that the staff of the Netherlands market study has recently been trained on the latest methods in the field through a programme funded by the European Union. Saleh pointed out that the EEC is implementing this project in cooperation with partners from Egypt, Italy, and the Netherlands, within the framework of international cooperation and participation in international projects. So far, the project has been building the capacity of 100 engineering companies in the areas of identifying business development opportunities, innovation, and product development, as well as including 25 Egyptian companies that are preparing market plans for the products developed through the project. She further revealed that trade missions are being organised to go to Europe in order to establish partnerships between Egyptian companies and their European counterparts, in addition to preparing an export guide for the European market. They are also working on a database containing technologies that Egyptian factories can take advantage of to broaden their exports.
