The Egyptian Chemical Industries Export Council has called on the Egyptian government to reconsider the pricing of natural gas for industrial use, according to the council’s Chairperson Khaled Abul Makarem.
Abul Makarem said that the council is aiming to peg domestic prices against international prices, ranging from $2.5 to $3 per MBtu.
He added that the council has also submitted a proposal to the Egyptian Commercial Service (ECS), affiliated to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, relating to the conversion of export opportunities received by ECS offices from various countries. The proposal requests that these opportunities be converted into bilateral meetings via Webinar technology, and which gather potential importers and Egyptian companies producing goods.
This would additionally see the creation of online platforms for bilateral meetings, the organisation of business-to-business meetings through ECS offices and participating entities in order to maximise the use of such export opportunities. This type of event will provide continuity of communication between producers and importers.
Abul Makarem highlighted the need to develop an action plan for the Export Development Fund (EDF). This will take place by automating procedures to speed up the dispersal of late and new exporters’ dues, and to discuss the mechanism of disbursing 100% of financial subsidies to exporters in the same year in cash.
“Furthermore, implementing a shipping subsidy programme to include, in addition to the African market, the strategic markets for each sector, especially the landlocked countries where freight and transportation costs are high,” he said. “The council also demanded that support is provided to place Egyptian companies on international electronic selling platforms similar to Asian factories, which receives orders through Ecommerce – B2B sales platforms for the industrial sectors.”
He elaborated that there is a set of axes for work that must be focused on during the coming period. These will take place in cooperation with all relevant authorities, by focusing on spreading culture of preferring local products over its imported counterparts.
It will also work towards limiting the export of necessary raw materials to deepen the local component of Egyptian industry. Besides this, these axes will work towards giving Egyptian-manufactured industrial products priority. These will replace imports, and allow for a focus on supporting and modernising marketing mechanisms and finding alternative opportunities.
This is projected to take place through activities such as missions and commercial weeks, with the first phase targeting Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, and Morocco.
