Photo: Hassan Malek
(PhotoCourtesy of Facebook Fan Page)
President Mohamed Morsi’s trip to India on Tuesday, along with the country’s Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade, sparked criticism from members of the Egyptian-Indian Business Association (EIBA) over the involvement of members of the Egyptian Business Development Association (EBDA) in the trip’s itinerary.
Sources who attended the meeting said that it went well, with President Morsi affirming that Egypt was a market with a great potential for profit. Members of EIBA expressed their opposition to EBDA representative Muhammad al-Damardash’s involvement in planning the trip’s itinerary and allegedly “getting in between the President and businessmen,” saying that the invitation to participate in the trip was not extended to elected and official business organisations. Some questioned the process by which members of Morsi’s delegation were chosen. They extended these criticisms to delegations on previous trips to China, Germany, Italy, and France.
An EBDA representative said that the organisation helped plan Morsi’s itinerary due to time constraints. Hassan Malek, EBDA’s president, stated that the company has always tried to work side by side with Egypt’s other private business organisations.
EIBA members criticised the involvement of organisations such as EBDA in the country’s official business affairs, saying that this undermined the role of the Egyptian government.
