Last week, Egypt’s Export Council for Printing, Packaging, Paper, Literary and Artistic Works signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Trade Reform and Development in Egypt (TRADE) project which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The council is also preparing to send a trade mission to Morocco within two months, and to participate in an exhibition in Tunisia in November.
Nadim Elias, Chairman of the Export Council, said that the MoU aims to increase exports of Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the printing and packaging sector.
Elias explained that through this partnership, the project seeks to support joint efforts aimed at enhancing the trade and investment environment for Egyptian exporters in the printing and packaging sector, and for the benefit of Egypt’s SMEs to help them integrate into international trade and contribute to the state’s economic growth.
The meeting saw council members and the project’s board of directors discuss mechanisms for improving opportunities for such joint ventures in the future for the benefit of the printing and packaging industry.
He also added that the agreement is in line with the strategy of the project and the council, providing technical support and marketing advice, increasing the capabilities of SMEs to boost exports, and guiding them to successfully penetrate export markets.
The Export Council’s Executive Director Sara Ibrahim explained that the project provides technical support; rehabilitation and training, especially for small companies; and helps them produce high-quality products to compete in international markets and thereby increasing the number of exporting companies.
The USAID-funded TRADE project implements activities in three result areas to achieve the project’s goal: enhance export capacity of SMEs, particularly new and expanding export-ready enterprises (NEEREs) in selected sectors; strengthen public and private trade-support institutions (TSIs) such as trade associations and export councils; and improve trade and investment policy, regulatory, and institutional environments.
The project provides access to services such as granting quality certifications to penetrate African markets, training grants to increase exports to all markets, increasing the capabilities of small companies to raise the quality level of exported products, and supporting small new ventures to enter export markets.
Ibrahim announced a trade mission to Morocco this September as part of the export council’s plan to promote its future vision. She added that the mission aims to include around 15 Egyptian companies from the printing and packaging sector to make their mark in the Moroccan market and to find partnership prospects for increasing Egyptian exports. She indicated that the Moroccan market is one of the most promising for promoting Egypt’s exports. Morocco is ranked sixth in the list of the largest importing countries for printing, packaging, and paper materials from Egypt, to the tune of $31 million for the January-May 2022 period.
Another mission slated for November this year is for the packaging sector to participate in an international exhibition of agriculture, food, and packaging to be held in the Tunisian city of Sousse.
