Egypt’s Ready-Made Garments Council: 30 SMEs Due to USA Next Oct

Egyptian Ready-Made Garments Council is planning to pay an official visit to the USA by the end of next October, the chairman said to Amwal Al Ghad on Thursday.

Mohamed Kassem, Chairman of the Egyptian Ready-Made Garments Export Council, stated that the council plans to organize a visit to the United States at the end of next October.

Around 30 Egypt-based export companies will be heading next month to the USA for the purpose of expanding the Egyptian exporters’ base in the U.S. market, Mr. Kassem noted.

For the council’s planned mission, Mr. Kassem added that his council is highly keen to include Egyptian exporters that are new to the U.S market, notably owners of the SMEs.

Furthermore, he said despite the current Egypt-US strained relations, the ready-made garments exports to the US, in accordance with the QIZ protocol, were unharmed.

There has been a serious breakdown in relations between the US and Egypt following the outbreak of June 30 uprising that overthrew the Egyptian first-elected president.

The volume of Egypt’s ready-made garments exports to the US have recently witnessed a decline ranging between 6-7% driven by the unstable turbulent global markets, Mr. Kassem noted.

The Egyptian Ready-Made Garments Council chairman has concluded his statements by ruling out  any possibility that whether the US or Egypt would cancel the QIZ (Qualifying Industrial Zones) protocol, emphasizing that both parties highly benefit from the protocol. Around 400 Egypt-based firms are expected to make investments worth EGP 6 billion this year as pursuant to the QIZ protocol.