 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 June 1999 Issue No. 432 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 June 1999 Issue No. 432
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Interview Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Industrialists urge
By Mona El-Fiqi
government incentivesWays to upgrade Egyptian industry to meet the challenge of the 21st century was the theme of a two-day conference organised by the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI). More than 600 members of the Federation and more than 10 ministers attended the FEI's first annual conference, entitled "Towards a New Vision of Industry".
In order to boost Egyptian exports, the FEI conference recommended that the government provide direct incentives for exporters. "A new fund for supporting exports should be established by the government to provide each exporter with 10 per cent of the value of his exports as an incentive to encourage exports," Ahmed Ezz, deputy chairman of the FEI, told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Youssef Boutros Ghali, minister of economy, said that there is no objection to establishing such a fund but it should be in effect only for a limited time, after which the private sector should operate without support.
The FEI conference also recommended that due to the high cost of technical assistance, usually beyond the reach of small and medium-sized enterprises, the government should provide greater support of this kind.
Minister of Industry Soliman Reda, speaking at the conference, said a new programme designed to help industrial projects face globalisation will be implemented next July. It is one of three five-year programmes to upgrade industry that the ministry will implement during the next 15 years.
(l-r) Youssef Boutros Ghali and Atef Ebeid; Soliman Reda with Engineer Ahmed Ezz
photos: Khaled El-Fiqi
The new programme for boosting the industrial sector, to be known as the Industry Modernisation Programme (IMP), was approved by the People's Assembly during this parliamentary session. It will provide 5,000 industrial factories with technical assistance to enable them to compete with international companies. The programme will be co-financed by the European Union, the government and the private sector.
Since the Egyptian private sector is expected to assume an increasingly larger role in the country's economic development in the coming era, the business leaders focused on how they can improve their industries to meet the challenge of globalisation.
Businessmen should make sure they are informed on all issues related to globalisation and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ezz said. Moreover, they should invest in export-oriented industries rather than target the local market only, he emphasised.
The domestic industry has to be more conscious of the need to be integrated into the global economy, to open its markets to the world, and have access to global markets in return, Ezz added.
Ezz told the Weekly that the most important challenge facing Egyptian industry is to develop its operational and technological capabilities. "That is the role of the FEI together with Egyptian companies and entrepreneurs," he said.
Technological development, improving marketing policies, human resources development, improving product quality and encouraging small- and medium-sized enterprises are some of the challenges facing Egyptian industry.
In 1998 the industrial sector represented 19 per cent of Egypt's national income and 22 per cent of total investments.
Moreover, it absorbs 14 per cent of Egypt's labour force.
Responding to demands for greater incentives, Minister Reda pointed out that many projects would not have succeeded without government incentives given to the private sector in recent years. He said that in 1997 there were only LE6 billion worth of investments in industrial projects. However, this figure reached LE11 billion in 1998.
The value of industrial goods produced last year was LE10 billion, an amount in excess of the needs of the Egyptian market, according to Reda. "The solution is to export," he said, adding that boosting Egyptian exports will advance economic development and create more jobs.
