Eng. Mohamed Zaki El Sewedy, Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, Emkili Minni, Secretary General of the African Free Trade Zone, and his accompanying delegation received at the Federation of Industries ’headquarters, where the meeting was attended by Dr. Sherif El-Gabaly, Chairman of the Union's African Cooperation Committee, Mohamed Qassem, Chairman of the Federation's Foreign Trade Committee, and Dr. Khaled Abdel Azim, Executive Director. To the union.
During his meeting with the African official, Eng. Mohamed El-Suwaidi confirmed that the Federation of Egyptian Industries is looking with great interest to the agreement to liberalize intra-trade and the African Free Trade Zone, given the great importance it represents for the economies of the continent, stressing that the Union has formed during the past two sessions a committee for African cooperation that has had concrete activity of During the door-to-door missions with the aim of gaining access to Egyptian industries to African markets, whether for investment or trade, the committee made a great effort by visiting several African countries in East and Central Africa and it was planned to head towards West Africa, but the circumstances of the Corona pandemic have postponed that planned visit.
Engineer Mohamed El-Suwaidi also explained that the Egyptian industry has great experiences that can contribute to transferring expertise to the transfer of the African economy to industrialization in a greater way, in addition to the Union's experiences in the system of developing human resources development programs, technical education, vocational training and corporate social responsibility, whose experience can be transferred to many From African countries, he also stressed the importance of looking at the African continent and its capabilities from the perspective of integration at the level of supply chains and value-added chains in order to achieve a product that could take the mark of Made in Africa and set an example of Nissan's willingness to expand its investments in Egypt by making use of the auto-feeding industries at the country level. The producers of these industries, in order to achieve a greater volume of production directed to the African continent and to foreign markets at the same time.
Al-Suwaidi pointed to the importance of harmonizing customs specifications and regulations and labor laws in advancing trade and investment and activating the African free trade zone, noting the importance of building on previous experiences, including the experience of the European Union, as well as the importance of adopting clear procedures for settling disputes in commercial disputes that may occur clearly. And easy in terms of his procedures.
In his speech, Dr. Sherif El-Gabaly explained that the union through the Chamber of the Nineteen contains a great deal of diversity among the manufacturing industries in their well-known form, as well as other industries of equal industrial importance, which are analogous to industrial chambers in the union such as real estate development, health care services and information technology, which can It meets the needs of the African continent within the framework of the agreement, which seeks to liberalize trade in goods and services at the same time.
Ali also emphasized that the African Cooperation Committee in the Union had worked in the past period with Africa Bank to familiarize the manufacturers with the available programs and the electronic trade mechanisms that the bank sought to launch. The committee also established a trade and investment company with Africa that seeks to provide information to those interested in the African market as well as to find logistical services such as warehouses. African countries always need a commodity present in their trade operations.
He stressed that it is important for the secretariat of the Continental Free Trade Area to identify the business organizations that will cooperate with it in order to implement the agreement, at the forefront of which is the Federation of Industries, with its large industrial base exceeding 102,000 industrial establishments.
Mr. Muhammad Qasim emphasized that there are current efforts seeking to achieve integration in value chains and supply chains in the fields of spinning, weaving and ready-to-wear industries, which have achieved positive steps in some aspects, and there are still discussions on other aspects as there are still discussions about the rules of origin for cotton ready-made clothes. And that coordination is taking place with the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Egypt in order to reach rules of origin acceptable to manufacturers in Egypt.
He pointed out the importance of benefiting from the changes occurring in global value chains through the transfer of some companies to their manufacturing activities from their places of presence to new destinations, and the African continent has great attractions for these investments, indicating that the textile and garment sector can implement great job opportunities for women. And youth in the countries of the continent.
In his speech, Wamkili expressed great pleasure to meet with the leaders of the Union and to get acquainted with their vision that is consistent with the objectives and plans of the African Free Trade Area to raise the rate of African trade of weakness to 2025 and to increase the African industrial capacity and the competitiveness of the African economy, stressing that there is no way for that except through adopting the method of maximizing chains African value and increasing the capacity of the industrialized continent to reach an African product.
He also stressed that this requires taking advantage of countries that have industrial capacity such as Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia and Kenya, stressing the importance of making the rules of origin available to all dealers and issuing certificates of origin in a digital form that limits the number of days required according to international rates, and that the use of the digital platform in this field requires equipment and connectivity At the level of customs authorities in different African countries, and to complement the use of digital tools, the agreement secretariat seeks to build an African electronic platform that connects suppliers to producers, provides procurement processes for governments and companies, and facilitates identification of counterparts between countries to achieve commercial partnerships. He also indicated the importance of harmonizing investment and trade laws in African countries.
He explained that the challenges are concentrated in the ability of customs authorities to apply the rules of origin and adhere to them, as well as the variation in the level of development from one country to another, as well as increasing our ability to double intra-African trade, stressing that the agreement is primarily directed to the private sector and not to governments, where the private sector has job opportunities, creativity and energies Investment.
He added that the fourth challenge is the lack of an action plan for African industrial development that targets specific sectors in which the continent has advantages and capabilities that enable it to industrialize and increase its contribution to global trade beyond the current 3.5%, which does not represent the continent’s capabilities.
Eng. Mohamed Al-Suwaidi concluded the meeting with a review of the great leap that Egypt had made at the level of digital transformation, financial inclusion, and infrastructure development that the world is witnessing in an unprecedented record time. He invited the Secretary General of the Free Trade Zone to visit the Federation of Industries every time he presented to Egypt.
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