Furniture upgrade THE INDUSTRIAL Modernisation Centre (IMC) and Furniture Export Council held a press conference to announce the results of Furnex Egypt 2007, reports Mona El-Fiqi. The fourth International Furniture and Furnishing Trade Fair was held in Cairo 2-6 June. This year, products from 165 Egyptian furniture companies were exhibited, with the number of international companies participating in the fair rising from 82 in 2004 to 517 in 2007. Adham Nadeem, IMC executive director, said the number of buyers rose from 200 in 2004, at a total sales value of $60 million, to 705 buyers this year, and sales of $156 million. Ahmed Helmi, chairman of the Furniture Export Council, said Egypt's furniture has high export potential, and exports have increased from $46 million in 2004 to $220 million in 2006, accounting for a 390 per cent increase. Helmi added that the Furniture Export Council's target is to increase exports to $1 billion by 2010. Last May, exports reached $140 million. The furniture industry is labour intensive, with high export potential, so it is being actively courted by the IMC, which provides six per cent of export value as financial support, in order to encourage furniture exports. Some 350 furniture companies participate in an IMC assistance programme which provided technical and marketing support. According to El-Nadeem, there is a real technological gap between the quality of locally produced furniture and international products. The IMC assistance programme aims at filling this gap by improving the technical level of other related industries such as chemicals, textiles and engineering. Oil prices ease THE DAILY basket price of OPEC's 11 crudes stood at $67.90 a barrel 18 June compared to $67.39 the previous week. On 15 June, New York light crude and Brent crude stood at $64.76 a barrel and $68.60 a barrel respectively after shedding $2 earlier this month. Oil prices tended to increase amid fears that the Cyclone Gonu, which eventually turned into a rainstorm, would negatively affect the output of Oman and Iran. Cyclone Gonu was the most powerful storm in the Gulf in the past 60 years. Worries of low fuel supplies from US refineries and fears of escalating violence in the Middle East helped to spark oil prices above $71 a barrel earlier this month. In the meantime, OPEC intends to maintain production at its current level of 30 million barrels a day, "this would ensure that commercial oil stocks remain at comfortable levels for the time being if there is no significant change in market conditions," according to an OPEC press release quoting its Secretary-General Abdallah Salem El-Badri's speech during the Oil Market Fundamentals Conference held in Vienna, Austria, 14 June. Increased oil output from non-OPEC countries is expected during the second half of 2007. "However, considerable uncertainties continue to surround world oil demand," commented El-Badri, who added that a combination of current high inventory levels and increasing spare capacity, expected to reach around 15 per cent in the second half of this year, means there are adequate supplies available to cope with any upward oil demand forecasts. EU aid to Sinai EU AMBASSADOR Klaus Ebermann visited Sharm El-Sheikh to follow up on developments in the EU-funded South Sinai Regional Development Programme. The five-year, 64 million euro programme is the first decentralized project to be implemented directly by the South Sinai governorate, rather than by a government ministry. The programme aims to develop the local economy and preserve as well as support the social, cultural and natural resources of South Sinai. It has two tracks; namely, developing infrastructure, and supporting the local community directly and indirectly. Within the first track, 21 contracts have been signed, worth 34 million euros. These contracts allow the implementation of some activities such as water supply to the St Catherine and rural communities, solid waste management, waste water treatment in Al-Tur, a sustainable tourism development plan and supply of environmental equipment for mooring, monitoring and tracking. Within the 20.5 million euros second track, a call for proposals was launched under which 55 contracts were awarded. The beneficiaries of these contracts are NGOs, SMEs, local authorities and the national and international organisations concerned with the development of South Sinai. Their proposals cover capacity building, cultural heritage, social and economic development and the environment. Moreover, 120 grants, each less than 10,000 euros, were awarded directly through the sheikhs of the South Sinai governorate to local Bedouin communities. The total value of small grants is one million euro, to be used by Bedouin communities to implement small projects in the fields of water management, agriculture, livestock, handicrafts and ecotourism. Housing and sanitation projects THE EFG-HERMES Foundation, a non-profit non-governmental initiative established by the regional investment bank EFG-Hermes, has launched initial phases of two projects under its wing: the Habitat and Water and Latrines Projects. Eman Youssef reports. At a gathering attended by Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Moselhi, the foundation announced that it has provided LE650,000 to cover the expenses of Phase 1 of both projects, which are taking place in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Minya through collaboration with the Better Life Association for Comprehensive Development (BLACD), another non-profit NGO. "The goal of the foundation is to support creative and effective individuals who are capable of making lasting changes within their community," said Hanaa Helmi, the founation's CEO. This, according to Helmi, can be achieved through a number of ways, among them the targeting of community-oriented social entrepreneurs, and "using the private sector to help achieve social objectives and supporting outstanding undergraduate and graduate students through scholarship programmes." The EFG-Hermes Foundation was launched in 2006 as a part of a commitment to the communities in which it operates, Helmi said. The foundation's social responsibility programme aims to assist individuals and institutions in overcoming financial, educational and health-related challenges. The Nazlet Hussein Housing Project (the Habitat Project) targets 15,000 residents of the Nazlet Hussein Community in Minya with the building of 1,000 houses. These can be either new, or rebuilt by using materials that are available locally. The foundation, through an initial grant of LE2 million to be disbursed over a three-year period, will provide the money to BLACD, which will then lend the sum to needy families, in order to build or reconstruct their homes. The loan will then be repaid over a period of one to two years, with the repaid loans then going towards building or reconstructing additional houses, according to Helmi. Residents' health is the primary focus of the governorate's Water and Latrines Project, which will see water taps and latrines installed in 3,000 houses in the Mansheyet Samalout and Bani Khaled communities. In association with BLACD as well, the project will work, by means of an initial grant of LE500,000, at raising awareness among residents of how to use and care for the facilities. "It is essential that all companies support projects that benefit the community," said Yasser El-Mallawani, EFG-Hermes' chairman and CEO, adding that the EFG-Hermes Holding Company has agreed to an initial funding of LE12 million for the projects approved by the foundation. He added that his company is "looking to match or exceed that total in the future." Leather surge A WORKSHOP was held by the Trade Enhancement Programme (TEP) on 12 June on the development of Egyptian shoes and leather exports. The TEP, implemented in partnership between the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the EU, is funded by the EU within the framework of the Egypt-EU partnership agreement. The 30-month 20 million euro programme, which ends this year, aims at boosting Egyptian exports particularly to the EU countries and upgrading the human resources in Egypt. During the one-day workshop, Mamdouh Mustafa, chairman of the Commercial Department at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said the ministry is currently preparing a marketing study for shoes and leather exports as well as providing a comprehensive database that covers import regulations and quality specifications for most of the world's countries. The aim will be to help Egyptian exports enter international markets. The Technology Centre for Leather Products was recently inaugurated by Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid. The centre aims at providing technical assistance to the local leather industry, including training courses for workers based on international technical methods. The centre is also providing quality certificates for products being sold in both local and international markets. Mustafa added that the shoe and leather manufacturing sector is labour- intensive and has a high value-added component. The leather sector includes 19,000 small and medium enterprises which have 140,000 workers. The export value of shoes and leather products was estimated at $21 million in 2005. According to Mustafa, Egyptian exports are modest compared to other countries in the region and Egypt has great potential in the leather industry. The leather workshop was one of a series of workshops organised by the TEP. In September, a workshop will be held to discuss the role of the newly-established Competition Protection Authority. In November, a closing conference for the TEP is expected to be held to announce the programme's results to decision-makers and the business community.
