“Industrial Development… between Opportunities and Challenges” Over the past years, the Egyptian industry has faced a number of challenges which have had a major impact on its development. This has led the Ministry to launch an ambitious strategy to promote industrial development and foreign trade until 2020 to open more export markets for the Egyptian products, so that we can compete both within the domestic market and abroad. In this context Canada Egypt Business Council and the Egyptian Business Council for international cooperation organized an event with H.E. Eng. Amr Nassar to discuss the new vision for the industrial development in Egypt. In the opening remarks, Eng. Motaz Raslan welcomed all members and guests, then he mentioned that despite the great efforts and ambitions, there are still some challenges that still face the industrial investor, and limit the launch of the industry. But he also added that now the Ministry of Trade and Industry has developed a vision of ambition through a governmental program of economic reform aimed at increasing the growth rate of exports and raising their contribution in the domestic production from 18% to 21% through several axes, as well as upgrading & focusing on the development of small and medium enterprises. H.E. Eng. Amr Nassar, Minister of Trade and Industry, stressed that the Ministry is making strong efforts to increase the presence of Egyptian industrial products in a number of markets in Eastern Europe and Central Asia with a focus on access to the African market through two axes. The first is to assist the African countries in implementing their ambitions to start establishing an industrial base in their markets based on Egyptian experiences. Second axis is to help African countries in the establishment of manufacturing industries for the raw materials that are abundant in these countries. The Minister of Trade and Industry pointed out that there is coordination with a number of major countries to be present within the African market during the next phase, especially as there is great interest from these countries in the African market as one of the largest markets with a large investment return, pointing out that the ministry adopts an integrated strategy to promote economic relations with those countries of the African continent, especially that the African market is one of the most promising markets for Egyptian products. The governmet strategy is based on the achievement of industrial and commercial partnership with the African brothers, not just the growth of revenues and the volume of exports, especially that Egypt, like other African countries have not made full use of their resources, which needs them to cooperate in order to improve the exploitation of their resources and increase the rates of industrialization and trade. As for the development of Egyptian exports, Eng. Amr Nassar advised that the ministry is seeking to use international export houses to promote Egyptian exports in foreign markets, especially exports of small and medium enterprises, as 97% of the Japanese economy is based on this type of projects, as well as employing about 77% of Japanese labor. Then H.E. Eng. Amr Nassar, explained that currently, in coordination with the Federation of Industries and the Industrial Modernization Center, a vision is being put in place to overcome the problem of inflating import invoice for Egypt from production inputs, especially intermediate products. This vision is based on four axes. The first axis deals with inputs that can be manufactured immediately in Egypt to replace foreigners. Secondly, inputs that need to create new manufacturing capacities for production and this may need up to 6 months. The third axis covers inputs that need to find partnerships with foreign partners to start manufacturing. Finally the fourth axis expressed that there is no way to currently provid non-import vehicles such as engines. H.E. Eng. Nassar stressed on the importance of focusing on upgrading the industrial component along with the process of industrial development and the establishment of factories, pointing out in this regard the importance of the distribution of industrial zones through all governorates of the Republic without focusing on the geographical scope of specific governorates. The floor was then opened for questions and answers session, where several questions and suggestions were discussed considering the industrial Development in Egypt.