Proposed legislation aims to facilitate Egyptian exports, particularly to politically unstable nations.
The Arab Cooperation Committee of the Federation of Industries revealed the existence of a parliamentary bill to establish an agency for insuring and guaranteeing risks on Egyptian exports, especially to politically turbulent countries. According to the proposed law, the agency will handle dealings with importers in those countries and facilitate the transfer and receipt of transaction values for Egyptian exporters and producers.
During a meeting held to discuss arrangements and preparations for the forthcoming trade mission scheduled to launch in Libya on May 3, the committee affirmed that the Export Support Fund decided to exempt Libya from the requirement of depositing the shipment value in the bank to benefit from export support. Additionally, land shipments were included in the eligible support for exporters after support was previously limited to maritime shipments only. It was revealed that the volume of trade between the two countries amounted to only $1.7 billion, falling short of the aspirations of both nations.
Engineer Mohammed El-Bahi, head of the committee, stated, "I have spoken with the President of the Libyan Chambers of Agriculture and Industry to prepare arrangements related to the industrial and commercial delegation's visit to the provinces of Tripoli, Misrata, and Benghazi. He assured me that all sectors in Libya require contractors in all areas of reconstruction."
El-Bahi emphasized that the number of participants in the delegation has reached a large figure from various fields, adding, "We have been in contact with leading advertising companies to conduct a massive media campaign before the trip to highlight the visit and remind those interested in importing from Egypt of the delegation's arrival date." He stressed that all procedures would be coordinated, and the union delegation would precede the visit to Libya to make necessary arrangements before our arrival. The Libyan side is very interested in the visit, and the Libyan relations coordinator communicates with us daily to arrange the visit, as we all, whether exporters or importers, share the same interest.
Dr. Sameer Sabry, a board member of the Chamber of Building Materials Industries, affirmed that Libya is important for us and requires a lot of reconstruction materials, commending the Egyptian Export Insurance Agency, which will handle collection and insurance on behalf of others. For the first time, the Export Support Fund has included land shipping in the eligible support for Egyptian exporters, which is an advantage to encourage exporters to enter the Libyan market.
Ibrahim El-Seghiny, head of the Consumer Protection Agency, stated that the Libyan market holds promise for all sectors, and stakeholders should be ready, as this initiative is promising and could yield better results than government initiatives, especially after the Export Support Fund exempted Libya from the requirement to transfer the shipment value to banks.
Mohamed Ghanem, a board member of the Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industries, called for the necessity of the presence of officials from the Libyan Ministry of Health to overcome any obstacles that exporters may face, noting that most contracts in the pharmaceutical field are usually made through memoranda of understanding.
Tarek Shebika, a board member of the Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries, explained that the volume of Egyptian exports to the Libyan market in the information technology sector amounts to approximately $50 million, including software and hardware. He emphasized that Libya relies heavily on Egypt in this sector, and there are significant opportunities for us to deal with Libya.
