New consortium to upgrade local textiles
Egypt, Economics, 8/1/2002

A new consortium of European textile firms and local enterprises has been created to upgrade the performance of textile firms in order to make them competitive.

Minister of Foreign Trade Youssef Boutros Ghali, Minister of Planning Osman Mohamed Osman, Minister of Public Enterprise, Mokhtar Khattab met with the chairmen of 27 textile companies affiliated to the Holding Company for Cotton, Spinning and Weaving to discuss the future exports in the European Union (EU).

"The EU market is full of potential and is a challenge that should spur quality improvement and efforts to promote local products," Ghali said.

The EU has offered to finance an upgrade of the textile sector, Ghali said, adding that his ministry was willing to cooperate with the Public Enterprise Ministry and other bodies to eliminate obstacles to progress in this regard, thereby increasing exports to the EU.

Ghali stressed the importance of entering into partnership with local industrialists and European financial institutions in accordance with existing agreements.

The three ministers will submit a report to Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, briefing him on the latest developments in their plans.

The upgrade plan comprises two cooperation programs with the EU, said el-Sharkawi Mohamed, chairman of the Brussels office of the Egyptian Trade Representation Authority (ETRA).

Egyptian firms stand to reap considerable benefits, now that the the quota system applied to cotton exports to the Europe has been abolished in compliance with the partnership agreement.

The government is eager to boost textiles as a strategic sector to give impetus to push the development process, Mohamed said.

The EU is Egypt's biggest trade partner as Egyptian imports from the EU last year were 40 per cent of total imports," he said.

Industry

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