By Ahmed Amer
A delegation of 27 Indian car manufacturers and merchants will visit Egypt this June to study establishing industrial and commercial partnerships with Egyptian manufacturing companies.
Abd El Moneim El-Qadi, board member of the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), said the goal of the Indian delegations’ visit is to participate in the Exhibition of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) in Egypt. ACMA is the largest entity for companies operating in this field in India.
El-Qadi confirmed that ACMA will send 27 companies to discuss how to establish industrial partnerships with Egyptian companies in feeding industries and car manufacturing. He added that the exhibition aims for Indian and Egyptian companies to communicate to reach agreements on the industrial or commercial level.
He added that over 40 of the companies manufacturing car components in India will participate in the exhibition, where they will present their products, including spare parts and for car maintenance. They will also present vehicles’ bodies and frames, engines, exhaust pipes, suspension devices, gearboxes, transmissions, steering wheels, electrical and electronic products, as well as parts and products made of rubber.
He said that the exhibition is supported by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as well as the Indian Embassy in Cairo, the Egyptian Auto Feeders Association (EAFA), and the Egyptian Junior Business Association (EJB). El-Qadi added that the exhibition helps explore investment opportunities and enhance commercial ties between Egyptian and Indian companies in the field of auto feeding industries, spare parts, and maintenance centres.
El-Qadi called upon all Egyptian car manufacturing and auto feeding companies as well as merchants to participate in the exhibition and study the establishment of partnerships with the Indian delegation.
In a statement, ACMA said that, in 2013, Egypt was Africa’s third largest car producer, following South Africa and Morocco. The numbers indicate that car sales in Egypt have achieved an annual increase of 56% by the end of June 2014.
Additionally, the Egyptian automotive industry imports 60% of its components, or the equivalent of $900m of spare parts and feeder industries in 2013. Imports from India have accounted for about 8% of these imports, or approximately $70m. The Egyptian automotive market is expected to grow by another 50% by the year 2020.
ACMA also pointed out that Indian companies seek to work in cooperation with Egyptian companies to target more trade and investment opportunities, not only in the Egyptian market, but also in eastern and northern Africa. That way, Egypt would become India’s gateway into these markets.
Indian companies believe the Egyptian market represents great cooperation opportunities in light of the elements of power enjoyed by the Egyptian automotive industry, as well as the expected industry growth over the next five years.
In its statement, ACMA anticipated the Indian automotive components industry will achieve a growth of 8%-10% in the total size of its business during fiscal year (FY) 2014-2015 compared to its size of business in FY 2013-2014, which reached $35bn.
The statement added that the industry is expected to continue its increasing growth in the second half of FY 2016-2017 and beyond FY 2017-2018.
As for export, the industry has witnessed a boom, and automotive components exports are expected to grow by more than 10% in the current FY, compared to 5.4% in FY 2013-2014, in which exports amounted to $10.2bn.
On 7-8 June, Egypt will host the ACMA’s exhibition.
