1st Edition of “Export Smart”: the service providers, exporting companies exhibition kicks off

Cairo – 17 March 2022: The exhibition and conference, the first of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East, “Export Smart” organized by “Go Global” – for international business development – in cooperation with USAID Trade Reform and Development in Egypt (TRADE) and Sustainable Services Activity (SSA) Project, has been opened on Tuesday at the Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski Hotel in New Cairo.

It aims to help exporters from small and medium-sized companies to increase their exports sustainably, in line with the Egyptian government’s plan to increase the volume of Egyptian exports to 100$ billion during this decade. The exhibition comes under the auspices of the Ministries of Trade & Industry and International Cooperation.

Export Smart includes more than 33 exhibiting companies from various service providers and more than 850 exporting or ready-to-export companies in multiple sectors such as engineering products, ready-made garments, chemicals, printing and packaging, food processing, home textiles, chemicals, and building material in addition to the participation of export councils, government agencies, and the Federation of Egyptian Industries and other international organizations.

For her part, Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, said during her speech at the opening session, which she participated in via video conference, that the Ministry of International Cooperation is keen, through negotiations with development partners, to provide development funding to support this important sector, as the volume of ongoing development funds that have been made available reached 940$ million, whether for the medium, small, and micro-enterprises development agency, or the concerned government agencies, especially the ministries of Trade & Industry and Social Solidarity, in cooperation with many bilateral and multilateral development partners, for example, the United States of America, Canada, the Saudi Fund for Development, Germany, and Italy.

Al-Mashat also stressed the strong strategic partnership between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States of America, of which bilateral economic cooperation is one of its most important axes, and that’s also presented in the development cooperation strategy in Egypt (2020 – 2025) implemented by the USAID.

USAID Deputy Mission Director Margaret Sancho said, “Export Smart is the first of its kind in the MENA region and is a catalyst for generating an inclusive and expanded trade-enabling environment in Egypt. The U.S. Government, through USAID, is committed to partnering with the Government of Egypt and organizations like Go Global to support the expansion of economic and trade opportunities for entrepreneurs, especially female entrepreneurs, in Egypt.”

Rachid Benjelloun, USAID TRADE Chief of Party, continued that “Through Export Smart, the USAID TRADE aims at generating new opportunities for SME exporters and for Egypt-based private sector service providers to help them develop their businesses, access new international markets to increase export sales and their international competitiveness, in line with the Egyptian government’s vision to increase Egyptian exports to 100$ billion in a decade.”

For her part, Rania Habib, Managing Director of Go Global, said that the exhibition succeeded in providing small and medium-sized companies with exceptional opportunities to communicate with service providers, representatives of invited government agencies, and various international organizations, and practically contributed to increasing awareness of these small and medium-sized companies with the latest trends and ideas in the export process, the obstacles affecting it, and how to use various marketing tools to reach the target markets, and increase their exports.

While Dr. Khaled Fahmy, director of the Sustainable Services Activity (SSA), explained that Go Global being the organizer of “Export Smart” gives a positive model that Egyptian business services development centers, if they have the appropriate technical support and capacity building required, can offer distinguished services to small and medium-sized companies that are looking to expand their exports and access international markets.

The wide participation of a large number of different sectors such as banks, international marketing companies, shipping and customs clearance, as well as many service providers, came to create new and diverse opportunities for exporting and wishing-to-export companies, by introducing them to the technical and financial needs necessary to start and develop their export journey, and then increase their competitiveness in international markets.