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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Learning Chinese
Since President Mubarak's visit to China last April, much has been done to transform the strong political ties between the two countries into concrete gains on the ground -- especially on Egyptian ground.
Ambassador
Noaman Galal
"There have been so many delegations visiting Egypt to try and implement the five agreements signed between President Hosni Mubarak and Jiang Zemin last April", Noaman Galal, Egypt's ambassador to China, told the Weekly.
These agreements comprise a strategic communiqué, together with accords concerning tourist, agricultural and marine transport, and economic and technical cooperation.
"These agreements provide the framework for relations between the two countries," Galal explained, adding that a further 16 agreements had been signed as letters of intention between the business communities of China and Egypt.
According to Galal, while "the political understanding and political will are there, the economic and trade relations are still not strong enough. Not that they are weak -- the volume of trade last year reached $600 million, which is quite substantial, compared to trade between Egypt and its closest neighbours in Africa or the Arab region." However, the trade deficit produced by all those goods in transit is quite alarming: Egyptian exports came to only $31.7 million -- a mere five per cent of the total trade bill between the two countries.
There are many reasons for this shortfall, according to Galal. The first among them is that the Chinese do not know much about Egyptian goods, either on a business level or as consumers.
"The quality of Egyptian goods also needs to be higher," the ambassador explained, "because they are competing against other countries. And the price of the goods should be reasonable, because in China, production costs are low."
There is also a lack of awareness of the need for effective marketing. Egyptian businessmen tend to think the government will do this part of their work for them -- or else, they rely on what the ambassador terms the "remote control approach".
"They should contact Chinese businessmen directly," Galal said. "Instead, Egyptian businessmen are sending me letters saying they want to establish business ties with China. When I write back, it often takes them one or two months to get in touch again."
Ties between Egypt and China go back to the early years of both republics. Top: Chairman Mao; bottom left: President Mubarak with President Zemin during his visit to China last April; right: Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai with President Gamal Abdel-Nasser on his visit to Egypt
Yet paradoxically, many Egyptian businessmen are, if anything, in too much of a hurry to get deals signed. "But when we ask them to come," Galal remarked with a sigh, "they keep on putting it off, and asking whether the embassy cannot do the work for them. This is what I mean by 'remote control'. The embassy can get people together, it can help the Chinese have faith in their dealings with their Egyptian counterparts, and vice versa. But the business contract has to be worked out by the businessmen themselves."
The situation is made worse by the cultural gap, which prevents Egyptians from grasping the business approach of the Chinese, especially as the country begins to open up its economy and give more weight to the private sector.
"The Egyptian government and the business community need to find a new way of doing business with China," Galal recommended. "First, they need to understand Chinese culture. The Chinese, after all, understand the Egyptian and the Arab way -- they have experts who know all about our culture and our language. We have to promote a cadre or a think tank in Egypt, bringing together the universities, the diplomatic institutes and the government institutions -- all those who are well acquainted with Chinese culture."
Ain Shams University has a section for Chinese language, but links between the department and the business community are non-existent, and the skills that graduates work long and hard to master often end up being wasted. Nothing could be more different from the situation in China.
"Here, they have experts working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Ministry of Trade, in the Ministry of Culture and even in the local foreign affairs office, who speak fluent Arabic and are familiar with our culture," Galal pointed out. "That is why I have proposed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that we compile a directory of all Egyptians who speak Chinese. It is just a beginning, but it would be a very important step forward."
Yet despite the large number of Chinese delegations visiting Egypt, the quantity of Egyptian goods exported to China remains dismally low. Why? According to Galal, it all comes down to mentalities, once again. "The Chinese are very cautious when they do business abroad," he explained. "It is a new adventure for them. They used to be very self-contained. Now they are coming out of their shell and discovering a new world. But the Egyptians are always in a hurry, always rushing to get a quick deal."
In Galal's view, Egypt has much to learn from China's economic experience -- from the decentralisation of the decision-making apparatus, for instance, or the emphasis on building a new cadre of young Chinese businessmen, as well as the more equal redirection of investment from central areas to more remote ones.
Despite recent misunderstandings as trading partners, there are strong bonds of friendship between the two countries going back almost half a century. Egypt was one of the first countries in the Arab world to recognise the new People's Republic of China, establishing diplomatic relations with it in May 1956. Moreover, Egypt has been unswerving in its support of the "One China" principle which, according to Galal, has considerably helped deepen relations.
"We have no relations with Taiwan," the ambassador pointed out. "We consider Taiwan to be part of China and that there is only one China. Therefore, we do not support any bids by the Taiwanese for any other status than a province of China. We oppose Taiwan's application for membership of the United Nations. China, for its part, has supported the Arab cause without reservation."
As a symbol of friendship between the two countries, Egypt has recently donated a Pharaonic garden to Quonming, the capital of the province of Yunan. "It is an expression of affinity and love between Egypt and China", said Galal. In return, China has arranged for a forest to be planted in the land of the desert sand -- the first of its kind to spring up in 6th of October City.
