Ebeid opens 35th Cairo int'l fair
Egypt, Economics, 3/21/2002

Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid Wednesday inaugurated the 35th Cairo International Fair, held under the auspices of President Hosni Mubarak.

Some 76 countries, namely 18 Arab, 23 European, 12 African, 15 Asian and eight north and South American countries are taking part in the ten-days fair.

Up to 3,500 companies representing the various production and service sectors are showcasing their products.

Present at the opening were the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and the Ministers of Industry, Public Enterprise, Supply, Foreign Trade, Military Production, Local Development, electricity and Transportation.

A number of Arab and foreign ministers of trade and industry and diplomats also participated in the opening.

Ebeid began his tour by visiting the pavilion of the Ministry of Agriculture where he was welcomed by Dr. Youssef Wali, Deputy premier and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.

Ebeid was briefed by senior officials of the Ministry on the ambitious programme of the Ministry to expand agricultural and animal production and introduce the latest world techniques to develop production and meet the increasing demand on foodstuffs in the local market and to expand exports so as to increase the country's income of foreign currencies.

A review of achievements in the agricultural and animal production sector over the past years showed that Egypt occupied first place in production per Fedden of rice, sugar cane and maize.

Cereals production reached 18 million tons compared to 8.5 million tons in 1980. Sugar production doubled and rose to 1.2 million tons compared to 649 tons in 1982.

Vegetables production rose to 14.5 million tons compared to 8 million tons in 1982.

Fruit production tripled and reached 6.6 million tons. Horticultural and vegetable production was doubled. There was self-sufficiency in poultry meat and eggs. Fish production rose to 257,000 tons.

Ebeid listened to a report on mega agricultural projects at Toshka, Dar arbayeen, East Uwainat and Sinai.

A total of 3.4 million new Feddans will be reclaimed in the coming 20 years. The food gap will be completely closed by 2005 at the latest. The value of agricultural exports will be raised to 5 billion pounds annually.

Ebeid listened to a report on the plan of the ministry of agriculture to expand the Mubarak national project to give title deeds to agricultural land to young graduates and build 121 new villages as part of the project to support 45,000 families which own 225,000 feddans.

Atef Ebeid showed admiration of the exhibits of vegetables, fruits, poultry and animal products.

Ebeid inspected agricultural research centers which place their experience and advanced techniques at the service of farmers with the aim of raising agricultural and animal production in order to increase the income of farmers and make agricultural and animal products available on the markets.

Ebeid moved on and inspected a number of pavilions which show local products of electronic, electrical and house appliances and public transport vehicles, leather products, paper and ready-to-wear garments.

At the pavilion of the pharmaceuticals holding company, Atef Ebeid asked that Egyptian medicine be made available at reasonable prices for Egyptian citizens and to upgrade production for export.

At other pavilions, the prime minister saw products of steel and iron, aluminum, pipes metal products in addition to ceramics, chinaware and glass.

At the pavilion of the 10th of Ramadan Industrial City, Ebeid saw products of home appliances, detergents, ceramics, and furniture and electrical appliances.

Ebeid saw various local products at the pavilion of the October 6 City.

The big development in local products was a cause of pride, Dr. Atef Ebeid said. He added that the government encouraged The various industries in order to absorb more workers and to open the doors of export.

At the pavilion of the industrial development bank, Ebeid was told that the bank financed small projects for youth.

It advanced 2.6 billion pounds in loans in the past five years. A total of 6553 projects benefited from these loans at an investment cost of 6.6 billion pounds. Added value to Egyptian national income amounted to 2.7 billion pounds.

At the pavilion of the investment authority, the Prime Minister saw various local products produced by investment companies operating in Egypt.

Ebeid inspected the pavilions of 9 automotive companies operating in Egypt and saw their products of passenger cars, trucks and buses. He asked that attention be given to feeding industries.

When Ebeid arrived at the pavilion of military production, minister of state for military production Sayed Mishall welcomed him.

Atef Ebeid saw models of maintenance workshops for graduates including workshops for the maintenance of electronic appliances.

He saw a small workshop the total cost of which does not exceed 4,000 pounds and another metals shop of a total cost of 70,000 pounds.

Ebeid was told that the exports of Helwan Disel Motors Company to Arab countries amounted to 86 million pounds up to February 2002.

Ebeid was briefed about the programme of the Ministry of Military Production to train young people on various technical and technological specializations needed by the labour market.

The pavilion of Abu Zaabal engineering industries, affiliated to the Ministry of Military Production, produces furnaces to bake bread.

It exports its products to Australia, Kuwait, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Libya.

Saudi Minister of Trade, Osama Jaafar Faqih, welcomed the Prime Minister when he arrived at the Saudi pavilion.

The Saudi Minister expressed happiness at taking part in the fair and showed interest in the Egyptian market.

Among the products inspected by the Prime Minister were food products, leather and plastic products.

At the Iraqi pavilion Iraqi Minister of Industry Maisar Shalah , greeted the Prime Minister.

Ebeid admired Iraqi products of furniture, foodstuffs, carpets, bicycles and clothes.

Speaking to reporters, Ebeid said that his dialogue with exhibitors focused on helping young graduates and providing job opportunities through youth projects.

He said that small shops were equipped and sold to youth at reasonable prices.

He was happy to see a "village workshop" which could handle all repairs required in a village, particularly repairs and maintenance of equipment used in farming activities.

Asked to comment on the large number of Arab and foreign countries taking part in the fair this year in spite of economic conditions which followed the September 11 events, Dr. Atef Ebeid said that this intensive participation, by Arab and Foreign countries and companies, was due to the encouraging investment climate in Egypt and confidence in the promising Egyptian markets.

"Investors who came to participate in this fair did not come only to show their exhibits, but also to look for investment opportunities with their Egyptian counterparts to set up joint projects the products of which could be marketed at world level," he said.

He stressed the importance of "cohesion between local and foreign investors" in order to absorb modern technology and increase the competitive ability of Egyptian products at present and in future.

Ebeid said that the progress achieved by Egypt in the various fields "gives us more confidence and confirms that the course we are taking is sound and advanced."

"Egypt, as a developing country, has big ambitions. There are many opportunities for the progress that Egypt began, on solid bases, 20 years ago," Ebeid said.

Following his inspection of the pavilion of the Ministry of Military production where he saw models of small workshops for youth, the Prime Minister said that the production of these workshops saves foreign currency that used to be spent on importing them.

He showed admiration of these small, low-priced shops that a young person, or a group of young persons, could own and operate.

He noted that the shops are either stationery or mounted on small vehicles and can be moved inside a village or from one village to another.

Atef Ebeid Thursday resumes his tour of the pavilions of Cairo international fair which the Prime Minister inaugurated Wednesday.

He said: "In view of the big volume of exhibits and the number of pavilions and the number of participating countries and companies this year, I decided to devote another day to continue my tour of the fair."

He also took the decision on a bid to encourage Egyptian businessmen and prompt them to increase production and meet the needs of local and world markets of various products, particularly ready-to-wear garments, carpets, and leather products.

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