Mostafa Ismail, technical advisor to Le Marché exhibition, said that security forces informed them of the cancellation of the exhibition on Tuesday, although officials said it will be held in time on Monday.
Ismail told Daily News Egypt that the situation is ruining the investment climate. “It sends a negative message to investors,” he stressed.
Le Marché exhibition was planned to be held on the Cairo International Fair Grounds on Thursday.
Businessman Tarek Nour, owner of the company organising the exhibition, told Daily News Egypt that the cancellation was attributed to security concerns.
He added that security forces of Nasr City Police Directorate evacuated the exhibition grounds, closed the doors, and advised organisers to cancel it.
He noted that the exhibition preparations cost over EGP 200m from different local companies, adding that sales during the exhibition register EGP 300m.
He pointed out that the General Organization for International Exhibitions & Fairs charged the company EGP 3m for rental fees.
“The state restricted imports and floated the national currency, forcing companies to produce for the local market,” he said. “Then, they shut down the conference where those companies sold their production.”
The head of the Chamber of Wood Working & Furniture Industries at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, Ahmed Helmy, said that the size of furniture production in Egypt amounts to EGP 10bn per year.
“What is the message that the government sends by cancelling the exhibition?” he wondered, noting that some 200,000 small- and medium-sized workshops operate in that sector and take advantage of the exhibition to showcase their work.
