Briefs

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Euro fashion tips

EGYPTIAN garments manufacturers recently received some advice on how to survive in the European market. Sherine El-Madany listened in to a seminar.

Egyptian textile factories will increase garments exports to Europe if they focus on quality rather than quantity, argued speakers at a workshop recently held in Cairo to recruit Egyptian garments producers to participate in upcoming European fairs.

"Egypt is a producer of high-quality classic cotton, which gives its garments a competitive edge in the European market," said Eva Scherney, a fashion marketing and styling expert. "Consequently, if Egyptian textile factories produce fewer collections of garments, they will pay more attention to quality, and thus increase exports to Europe," Scherney added.

The workshop, organised by an EU-funded project and managed by the Industrial Modernisation Centre (IMC), aimed to inform Egyptian textile and garment producers about how to develop their export capacity to Europe.

Speakers also pointed out that participation in fairs across Europe is an essential method of promoting Egypt's garment exports. One such upcoming event is the Dusseldorf Fair in Germany, scheduled for the summer of 2006, where fashion marketing and styling experts will work with Egyptian companies and assist them in creating and improving fashion design according to European expectations. There will also be experts who will provide support to companies in various aspects, including quality assurance, cost calculation, and technological advice. Moreover, export marketing and sales consultants will handle design, production, sales, promotions, and other marketing activities for each company, including press releases about the companies, contacting qualified EU buyers and inviting EU fashion journalists to visit participant factories in Egypt.

"Both European countries and Egypt would benefit from such an event. Europe is a big market that needs to get good suppliers, and Egypt's geographic location qualifies it to seize such an opportunity," said David Wood, an IMC technical assistant.

Naturalising relations

AN AGREEMENT to sell Egyptian natural gas to Israel has been postponed for a week. The signing of a politically sensitive deal in which Egypt will provide Israel with natural gas for the next 15 years has been pushed back to next week.

The Israeli Ministry of Infrastructure said the delay is due to a summit in Israel, not because of any problems in the negotiations. Under the deal, Israel will receive 1.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas for 15 years from Egypt. At the end of the 15 years, the two parties can extend the period of the deal by five years.

Due to the political sensitivity of the deal, it comprises commercial and diplomatic agreements. Last year, Israel Electric Corporation agreed in principle with Eastern Mediterranean Gas (EMG), a private Israeli-Egyptian company, to purchase natural gas from Egypt. However, a conclusive political agreement was delayed due to strained relations during the Palestinian Intifada.

Negotiations started in 2001, but Israeli- Palestinian violence made it politically awkward for Egypt to conclude a contract. With the continuation of violence, Egyptian authorities remained tight- lipped about the deal.

The postponed signing ceremony is not the final stage of the deal, as the actual commercial contract is to be finalised in May.

According to the terms of the deal, gas is to start flowing from Egypt to Israel in October 2006 after the construction of a marine pipeline from the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt to the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. EMG, which is jointly owned by Egyptian businessman Hussein Salem and the Israeli Merhav Group, will be responsible for extending the pipeline.

Israel has also considered acquiring natural gas from Palestinian Authority fields offshore from the Gaza Strip, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon blocked such a move, arguing the proceeds would go to fund terror.

Israeli studies have indicated that the country could absorb 12 billion cubic metres annually if it were to use gas to generate electric power, to power desalination plants and to produce petrochemicals.

The signing of the deal will come amid a thaw in the cold peace between Egypt and Israel. Last month, Egypt returned its ambassador to Israel after recalling him in 2000, while in December, the two countries signed a deal with the US to allow goods jointly produced in Israel and Egypt to gain tariff- free entry to the US.

The pros of IPR

IN THE 1960'S the per capita income of Egypt was equal to that of South Korea. Today, the per capita income of Egypt is one-fifth that of South Korea. Michael Ryan, an associate professor in the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, highlighted this disparate growth as he addressed a recent symposium organised by the Egyptian Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AEPPI), in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Entitled "Intellectual property: a strategic tool for economic growth," the two-day event attempted to increase awareness of the value of intellectual property rights to businesses and the economy at large. Ryan attributed the difference in development between the two countries to the technological innovation model adopted by Korea, namely that "they invested in universal education and research universities." Another factor for the success of the development of innovations, Ryan said, is enterpreneurship and the availability of risk-taking financial capital.

The point Ryan was trying to make was not merely to highlight the need to encourage a culture of innovation, but to highlight the importance of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection for such a culture to grow.

Another speaker, Luis Alfonso Duran, reporter-general of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, pointed out: "Countries with a higher level of IP protection, get a higher level of trade, transfer of technology and investment."

"It is not good enough to get macroeconomics right," he added. Citing a regional example, Duran said that due to their strict enforcement of IP laws, Jordan is getting more biomedical investment and medical tourism.

The government's role is to create an enabling environment in term of laws and infrastructure for progressive business, suggested Prabuddha Ganguli, advisor for Vision-IPR.

"The number of patents is not important, but how to get value out of it," Ganguli said. He highlighted the importance of IPR in encouraging innovation, a primary factor in the competitiveness of any product.

Urban observatory

CANADA is working with Egypt to establish a housing information centre to monitor and report changing housing market conditions.

The project, which will be funded by $500,000 from the Canadian International Development Agency and the Egyptian government, is to establish the National Urban Observatory. The observatory will produce the first comprehensive report analysing the supply and demand for housing in Egypt, as well as the factors influencing them such as the evolution of housing prices and vacancy rates.

The report will be useful in "effective policy- making, good urban planning practice and the development of the housing finance market in Egypt," said Joe Fontana, Canadian labour and housing minister, during a recent visit to Cairo. The observatory will be jointly created by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Egyptian General Organisation for Physical Planning.