Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 June 2000 Issue No. 486
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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A 'golden' opportunity lost

By Sherine Nasr

Cairo was to witness the first international gold and jewellery exhibition last week, held under the auspices of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). Unfortunately, the event never materialised, thanks to bureaucracy and an obscure understanding of the law.

The centre, which operates in the United Arab Emirates as a major commercial outlet and exhibit organiser, had gained approval by the Egyptian government over a year ago to hold an exhibit for gold, accessories and precious stones in Cairo. Such an exhibit would have obviously bolstered Egypt's image as a trade hub attracting clients from the commercially active Gulf region, as well as internationally.

"World renowned names in the field were very interested, and we received requests from 25 exhibitors representing eight countries to participate," said Ashraf El-Sayed, the DWTC representative in Egypt.

Negotiations between DWTC and the General Authority for Exhibitions and International Markets were concluded and an agreement was signed to set up the exhibit under a decree issued by the authority issued on 10 May.

Two days, after the decree was issued, DWTC received another version of the decree. It was identical in wording to the first, save for one small detail: "selling during the exhibition is prohibited."

Thus, the purpose of buying and selling for which the exhibit was originally solicited by its organisers was totally aborted.

The disparate reasons forwarded by the General Authority for Exhibitions was that the step was undertaken to "protect the national gold industry" and counter dumping. It was not explained how dumping could apply in the case of items legally entering the country for exhibit purposes.

"Both [reasons given] are ridiculous," said El-Sayed adding that customs are paid on every single item of jewellery before it is allowed into the country.

Were Egyptian goldsmiths so afraid to face the competition that they pressured the authorities to undertake this move? Could the authorities have given in to such a short-sighted view of the local gold market, which will soon be opened up nevertheless due to tariffs liberalisation to gold items coming from all over the world?

When Al-Ahram Weekly broached the issue with Abdel-Meguid Youssef, manager of the exhibitions authority technical office, he said: "On 15 May, we received a request by the DWTC to cancel the event." Youssef did not elaborate on why the cancellation request was submitted.

Ironically, a month before this incident took place, an agreement promoting cooperation in exhibitions between Egypt and the UAE had been signed by Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and Sheikh Maktoum Ibn Rashid Al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai. Yet it would seem that no concurrent steps were undertaken by local authorities to overcome bureaucratic impediments to these good intentions.

"Rigid laws, expensive fees and bureaucracy are inhibiting factors to international exhibitors," El-Sayed said.

Now, the exhibition has been won over by Lebanon, which without hesitation has extended all the facilities needed to host the event. "Despite the financial loss, I had to move fast to satisfy our clients," El-Sayed said.

The DWTC organises 250 international exhibitions every year, with a revenue of about $4.2 billion.

The famous international gold festival held in Dubai every year is 18 times the volume of the cancelled Cairo exhibit.

"There, the laws and their application are smooth. All possible means are taken to protect the exhibitors' rights," asserted El-Sayed, adding that the Egyptian market has the potential to conduct as lucrative a gold trade as its Dubai counterpart, on condition that there be better organisation.

Seven days before the date set for the exhibit, the exhibitions authority changed its position, finally approving selling. The conditional change of heart called for a meeting between DWTC organisers and the Egyptian Goldsmith's Division, in order to 'set the rules' according to which selling should take place. At least four gold exhibitions had been held in Cairo over the past few years and selling was freely granted in each. "A ridiculous matter," El-Sayed commented. "What happened this time is, by all means, a farce."

For the past two years, DWTC has been doing research to decide on a host country for the exhibition. The views of major exhibitors were solicited and Egypt was selected as "the largest and most influential country in the Middle East despite some organisational drawbacks of which these exhibitors were aware," El-Sayed said.

DWTC organisers say they have incurred losses of at least $51,000, apart from hotel reservations and wasted publicity.

They are still negotiating to retrieve LE16,700 paid to the Exhibitions Authority to issue the licence for the exhibition. "We have not gotten back our money. But I believe that compared to this, Egypt's loss is irreversible," El-Sayed concluded.

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