The fourth edition of the HATS mission that is organised by the Engineering Export Council of Egypt (EEC) in partnership with the Trade and Export Development project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) launched on Saturday with the participation of more than 80 international consultants from 22 countries from Africa, Europe, and Asia. Chairperson of the EEC Sherif Al-Sayyad stated that the fourth edition of the HATS mission comes under difficult conditions for the movement of trade as a result of global events, inflation waves, and the Russian-Ukrainian War. Al-Sayyad added that HATS is considered an appropriate opportunity to increase exports of household appliances, tableware, and kitchen sectors, noting that the past three editions of the mission contributed to achieving a noticeable increase in exports to the participating sectors. On the side-lines of the opening of the event, he pointed out that the exports of the household appliances, tableware, and kitchen sectors recorded $1.092bn in 2020, increasing by 47% to $1.614bn in 2021. Moreover, exports of the three sectors recorded during the first eight months of 2022 $1.099bn, continuing the boom of sectors participating in the HATS mission, according to the EEC chairperson. Furthermore, Al-Sayyad announced that dozens of bilateral meetings will be held between 36 Egyptian companies and international buyers participating in HATS and that field visits to engineering factories will be organised to familiarise buyers with engineering industrial capabilities and great developments in national industry over the past years. For his part, Rachid Benjelloun — Director of the USAID-funded Trade and Export Development project in Egypt — said: "The fourth edition of the HATS mission will give a great impetus to companies to enhance cooperation with their foreign counterparts in order to increase capabilities of SMEs to raise their exported products and support new small companies in how to penetrate new markets and export." Additionally, Mai Helmy — Executive Director of the EEC — highlighted that the council has formed an integrated work team to follow up on agreements that take place within the activities of HATS, as well as facilitating holding meetings on the side-lines of the mission, adding that simultaneous translation services are provided to participating companies to facilitate conducting business. She also said that the HATS mission is one of the most important events organised by the council annually with the aim of helping Egyptian exporters in certain sectors to penetrate new international markets and access real and promising export opportunities. Furthermore, Helmy disclosed that HATS is the only event in Egypt that serves these important sectors in an efficient and appropriate manner by hosting a delegation of the largest international buyers in the most promising markets to attend the event in Cairo and hold specialised bilateral meetings with participating Egyptian companies.
