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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 March 1999 Issue No. 419 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 March 1999 Issue No. 419
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Information power
By Shaimaa LabibRepresentatives from European Information Centres (EICs), delegates from the European Commission and Egyptian businessmen met last week to discuss the role of reliable data in business development at a one-day seminar organised by the European Information Correspondence Centre (EICC).
The new EICC opened in Cairo last September is part of a network of 250 EICs established by the European Commission throughout Europe and the Mediterranean region.
During the opening session, Christian Falkowski, ambassador of the European Commission in Egypt, stressed the importance of providing the Egyptian business community with accurate and timely business information about the European Community.
The EICC in Egypt is hosted by the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) under the auspices of the Ministry of International Cooperation and the European Commission delegation in Egypt. PSDP -- a five-year programme established by the European Community and the Egyptian government in 1996 -- is designed to provide key technical assistance to Egypt's private sector companies to promote Egypt's economic growth and development.
According to Philip Corish, PSDP's project manager, EICC is of great importance in helping to fulfil PSDP's mission. "For many businesses, strategic decisions are based on intuition or the desire to seek available market opportunities and not on reliable information data," Corish said.
He added that when the PSDP was launched in Egypt, programme officials tried to understand the needs and problems of the Egyptian economy in order to be able to offer the required assistance. "We found out that companies have little or no idea about the size of their market, their market position and their competitors," Corish said.
He went on to say that business associations that depend on reliable data will be able to reduce the level of risk associated with conducting business. He argued that "reducing the 'what is likely to happen' question will ensure more success in the private sector and encourage new entrances into the commercial arena, thereby contributing to overall economic growth."
Corish emphasised that by gathering reliable information, companies will be better equipped to plan for the future and thus increase their competitive advantage. "EICC will help provide reliable data to managers to help them make calculated decisions in regard to their business development objectives in Europe... Also, it will facilitate business cooperation between Egyptian and European Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by utilising community matchmaking facilities and resources. Finally, it will establish sub-networks that will result in satellite offices within business associations that will help in spreading reliable knowledge," Corish said.
According to Lutfi Louis Sefeen, board member of the Alexandria Business Association (ABA), information will play a major role in economic development in the next millennium. "It is clear that information will be the unique resource that should be managed to create the necessary knowledge for business organisations to maximise and sustain competitiveness in an ever global dynamic environment," Sefeen said.
Sefeen expects that the EICC's role in Egypt in the next decade would be to continuously upgrade the awareness of the Egyptian business community of new trends, strategic direction and issues concerning compliance with social, cultural and environmental trends in Europe.
"EICC will act as a catalyst for the creation of information joint ventures between Egypt and Europe in the fields of human resource development, technology upgrading and research and development institutions. It will also provide European companies with information on opportunities regarding Egyptian businesses in different fields," Sefeen said.
