Co-organized by the Export Development Authority (EDA) of Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office of the Embassy of the China in Cairo, a Promotion Conference for the First China International Import Expo (CIIE) was held in the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Nasr City on January 3rd, 2018, over 100 Egyptian companies participated in the conference. Ms. Sherine El Shorbagi, CEO of EDA, Mr. Han Bing, Minister Counselor of the Chinese Embassy, Dr. Alaa Ezz, CEO of FEDCOC, and Mr. Mohamed Youssef, Secretary General of Egyptian Businessmen Association are present in the conference.

Mr. Han briefed about the bilateral economic cooperation between China and Egypt in trade, investment, and financial sectors in recent years, and introduced the CIIE with comprehensive information and encouraged Egyptian exporters to actively participate in this event. To facilitate the participation of companies from developing countries, CIIE will offer 10% off for the booth rate and will offer another 20% off for companies who register before January 31st, 2018, logistic support will also be provided for exhibitors from developing countries.

Mr. Ahmed Amin, Head of Trade Promotion Sector of EDA stated that CIIE is a very good platform built by China for the world to enter into the Chinese market, all the qualified Egyptian exporters will be encouraged and supported by the Egyptian government to participate in the Expo, to increase Egyptian export to China and to balance the bilateral trade. EDA will subsidize for different size of companies 50-70% of total exhibition cost including booth rate, decoration costs and logistic fees, which will greatly reduce the exhibition cost of the Egyptian companies in the hope that more exporters will participate in the Expo.

The participating companies appreciated the great support from both government, and raised some detailed questions concerning how to participate in the Expo. EDA expressed that more promotion conferences for CIIE will be held in the near future to promote the event and invite more Egyptian exporters to participate in the Expo.