The Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade is keen on providing support to developing and to increasing the competitiveness of the furniture industry in the upcoming period.
Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Qabil said the Export Development Fund is currently working on paying all dues for home furnishings exporters, according to a press statement on Tuesday.
Qabil referred to the continuation of an old strategy to facilitate exports until a new strategy is issued.
The ministry’s strategy includes preparing a new strategy to support exports during the next phase, which is based on several factors. It includes identifying the most important strategic markets, business and exports volume, and achieving balance between all sectors and industries, in addition to focusing on sectors which have a competitive advantage.
Qabil said that preparing this strategy would be through effective participation by the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) and its export chambers, as well as export councils to meet the needs of all export sectors.
The minister noted that foreign exhibitions are an important window for the promotion and marketing of Egyptian products in international markets. He cited the Heimtextil Fair for furniture as an important venue for the Egyptian furniture industry, which will be held in Frankfurt, Germany this January.
“The ministry has a clear vision to establish a set of new industrial zones and to expand existing zones to provide more industrial lands, meet the needs of various industrial sectors and launch new projects,” Qabil said. “It is targeted towards establishing new industrial zones in the Tenth of Ramadan, Burg Al-Arab, Badr, Miniya, and Quesna.”
Head of the Egyptian Furniture Export Council (EFEC) Saeed Ahmed said the council has an action plan to participate in many international exhibitions and promotional missions where senior and junior exporters will participate.
Ahmed said more than 32 Egyptian companies in the field of home furnishings will participates in the Heimtextil Fair, in which 110 countries and more than 2,300 international companies participate.
He called for the need to lift the fines imposed pre-2011 by the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) on the contractors of home furnishings factories as he sees that they limit competitiveness and burden those factories.
