The Chamber of Engineering Industries (CEI) includes more than 5,000 factories, with investments estimated at EGP 100bn and with a workforce of more than 500,000 direct workers, according to Mohamed El Mohandes, chairperson of the CEI.
During the Euro-Mediterranean Roadshow conference held on Monday, El Mohandes added that the chamber includes about 10 different divisions covering all sectors operating in the sector.
He explained that the establishment of a new division for new and renewable energy will be discussed in the chamber during the next meeting of the board of directors due to the importance of this sector in the development of factories.
He pointed out that the chamber is implementing a number of projects through cooperation with the Office of Environmental Commitment in the promotion of green economy by conducting the necessary studies with the provision of soft loans ranging from EGP 3m to EGP 5m, paid in annual instalments of one to five years with a one-year grace period and administrative expenses amounting to only 2.5% in cooperation with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and other banks.
For his part, Ahmed Kamal, executive director of the Federation of Egyptian Industries(FEI) said that the FEI is currently granting local product certificates, which give preference to the national industry in tenders and government procurement.
Kamal pointed out that the FEI contributed in issuing Law No. 5 on preference of local product to government tenders in order to increase the percentage of the local component, explaining that the procedures for the certificate takes only two weeks, which gives the factory the right to enter government tenders in preference to other competitors.
Kamal noted that the FEI is currently trying through its 23 committees to improve the business climate in Egypt, in addition to improving the quality of Egyptian products through cooperation with government agencies in the issuance of laws, such as those related to licenses and investments.
