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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 February - 3 March 1999 Issue No. 418 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 February - 3 March 1999 Issue No. 418
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Quest for cleaner products
By Shaimaa Labib
In an effort to address the increasing pollution problems in developing countries -- especially Egypt -- which have resulted mainly from rapid industrialisation, the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) held a one-day seminar entitled "Environment Day 1999".
The seminar was under the auspices of Nadia Makram Ebeid, state minister for environmental affairs.
During the proceedings, a cooperation protocol was signed between the State Ministry for Environmental Affairs and the FEI. The protocol aimed at combating the problems of industrial pollution and making industrial companies more compliant with environmental laws.
According to Ebeid, "environmental protection has gained greater credibility in Egypt in the past few years. In addition to the emergence of a green party, there are more than 80 non-governmental agencies working in the field of environmental protection."
Ebeid said that "it is becoming necessary to minimise industrial pollution through increased technology transfer. Egyptian factories are still using outdated technology which is harmful to the environment and which was brought in when the factories were first built."
Ebeid expressed her support for the transfer and use of clean technology, the offering of incentives to workers to increase their awareness of environment protection and the establishment of new technical and financial mechanisms for factories to enable them to become more environment-friendly.
"One step on the road towards environment-friendly industrial cities has been to declare 10th of Ramadan City as the first environment-friendly city in Egypt. We are expecting 6th of October City to follow suit, once all of its industrial organisations comply with environmental laws," Ebeid said.
According to Abdel-Moneim Seoudi, chairman of the FEI, industry is one of the main causes of environmental pollution.
"The issue of environmental protection is of great relevance to Egypt, which is constantly grappling with the question of how to increase production while minimising pollution," Seoudi said.
He warned of the "dire effects" that will be faced by the Egyptian economy if it does not succeed in complying with international environment laws.
"According to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), international exports will be tested to determine whether they are environment-friendly. In this case, Egyptian exports could face the risk of being rejected if they do not comply with environmental laws," Seoudi said.
He confirmed that the FEI seeks to minimise industrial pollution by offering scientific and technical assistance to industrial organisations so as to enable them to reduce their pollution rates.
Adel El-Mozi, chairman of the Holding Company for Chemical Industries and chairman of the Environment Committee of the FEI, said, "Environmental projects have offered polluting companies a grace period of two years in which to find suitable ways of minimising their pollution rates in compliance with international environmental laws. Companies which fail to comply will be shut down."
"However," El-Mozi added, "it is necessary to offer market, production and export incentives to industrial organisations as a means of encouraging them to comply with environmental laws."
He said that energy and resource conservation technologies, if introduced in a developing country, would enable it to achieve economic development at a lower cost, noting though that most developing countries lack the systems needed to accelerate the process of introducing environment-friendly technology.
