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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 5 - 11 October 2000 Issue No. 502 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 5 - 11 October 2000 Issue No. 502
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Breaking fresh ground
By Gamal NkrumahIndia's Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Omar Abdullah has just ended an official visit to Egypt in conjunction with the India Tech-2000 exhibition. The event was organised by the Engineering Export Promotion Council of India and the Indian Electronics and Computer Software Export Council with the support of Egypt's Social Fund for Development (SFD) and the General Organisation for International Exhibitions and Fairs of Egypt (GOIEF).
With the tariff reductions and economic deregulation implemented in Egypt during the last decade, Indian companies are eyeing the Egyptian market for new trade opportunities. The stage now seems to be set for boosting bilateral trade. "Excellent political relations between our two countries are commended, but much work remains to be done in bolstering trade between Egypt and India," Abdullah told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Indo-Egyptian bilateral trade currently stands at over $500 million, annually. "This figure, however, does not match our expectations," the minister conceded. "And certainly not the full potential and possibilities of bilateral trade and economic cooperation. Egypt imports drugs. India produces first class drugs at a quarter of the price of Western-manufactured pharmaceuticals." Even though he lamented that interaction with Egyptian businessmen was limited, Abdullah said that his visit to Egypt, "gave our businessmen the opportunity to explore the Egyptian market." Some 130 companies were represented in Cairo for India Tech-2000. "There were $3 million worth of firm orders and $45 million in inquiries. That is a good beginning."
India's flourishing Information Technology (IT) industry was promoted with tremendous enthusiasm at the fair. Among the most famous Indian IT "exports" is Hotmail, the free e-mail service available to anyone with Internet access. This company was sold for a small fortune to Microsoft. So what is the secret of India's IT success? "We have invested heavily in human development. Some 200,000 computer software professionals have graduated from India's six main IT institutes. The language factor is a plus. The software revolution has largely been centred on the southern Indian cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, the cities where the English language is most prevalent."
Minister Abdullah (far left) and Ambassador Mukherjee (centre) 
India's Ministry of Trade recently commissioned the Indian Institute for Foreign Trade to conduct a study to determine which countries are its most promising trading partners. Egypt scored high. Study results suggest a high degree of compatibility, meaning there is potential for realising considerable mutual benefits through increased bilateral trade. "Economically, Egypt is an important country for India. Not only is it a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), but it is also probably going to sign the partnership agreement with the European Union this year," Abdullah said.
Indian businesses are heavily involved in economic and commercial activities in eastern and southern Africa and India sees Egypt as a springboard for tapping the lucrative markets of the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East and North Africa. For Egypt, India is the gateway for South and Southeast Asia.
Indian exports to Egypt have been steadily increasing from $128 million in 1994 to over $269 million in 1999, an increase of almost 110 per cent in six years. In 1998, Egyptian exports to India amounted to $166 million and this rose to $235.5 million in 1999. A number of Indian firms have established joint venture projects and subsidiaries in Egypt. A show-piece for Indian-Egyptian joint ventures has been the Alexandria Carbon Black Company (ACB), set up by Grasim India Ltd with TRENCO and ATC as Egyptian partners.
Abdullah paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Amr Moussa -- a former Egyptian ambassador to India and a family friend. "I knew Mr Moussa as a child growing up in my native Kashmir for he was a close friend of my father [Chief Minister of Kashmir] Dr Farouk Abdullah. We mused about old times," Abdullah explained.
