EU Celebrates Success Of Trade & Domestic Market Enhancement Programme In Partnership With Egypt
Ashraf Abo Arafe
The European Union (EU) and Egypt have always been committed to strengthening the existing trade and investment relationship. Trade has been for longtime at the heart of the EU-Egypt partnership priorities for 2017-2020 agreed on last June 2017, which are also embedded in the framework of the Single Support Framework 2017-2020.
In his opening remarks Mr. Ibrahim Laafia, Head of Cooperation at the EU in Egypt has reiterated that “the EU remains the main trading partner; the main source of imports, the main export market, and the main origin of foreign direct investment for most of the Southern Mediterranean countries, including Egypt”. He added that since its launch in 2015 and until 2019, the EU-funded TDMEP program has rendered many remarkable outcomes and positive results have been achieved, congratulating the partners on the joint success.
“TDMEP is considered a significant program, through which the EU provided the Ministry of Trade and Industry with technical assistance” said Eng. Ahmed Taha, First Assistant to the Minister of Trade and Industry. “The program implemented a series of activities led by European experts together with their Egyptian counterparts in participation of the Egyptian private sector to support the ministry’s efforts in developing an integrated strategy to promote industry and Trade in order to boost the competitiveness of key Egyptian industrial sectors, to compete regionally and globally and create employment opportunities for the youth.” he added.
Launched in 2015 with a grant of EUR 20 million from the EU, the Trade and Domestic Market Enhancement Programme (TDMEP) aimed at providing the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) with support in carrying out key reforms in policies to promote economic development and improving Egypt’s integration into the regional and global economy. Over the course of four years TDMEP supported the governmental entities’ capacities, mainly MTI and its affiliates, to design and implement more comprehensive trade, industrial development and investment policies and strategies and support Egypt in its further integration into the global and regional economy. The project has also supported the alignment of quality infrastructure bodies and other aspects of the industrial policy and quality infrastructure, including market surveillance strategy and horizontal and sector legislation necessary for trade liberalization.
The EU-funded TDMEP project also played an important role in supporting the implementation of the MTI Strategy through the establishment of new entities or upgrading the organizational development of existing ones. The establishment of the Export Development Authority in 2017 with its relevant plans, are key achievements in trade, whereas, the organizational development of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) in support of its role in delivering services related to industrial investment promotion, industrial licensing, and Single Window services, is of equal importance for industry.
At the strategic level, the project has been particularly effective at initiating and supporting key policy reforms in trade and industry based on relevant institutional development interventions. TDMEP has also contributed to the reinforcement of the MTI governance structure through the establishment of a Policy Support Unit as a driver for reform and to the review of MTI’s Human Resources and Information Technology divisions for improved e-governance and response to new challenges.
The EU-funded project has also helped reinforce the capacities of MTI and its affiliated entities and to modernize their service, in the form of training, coaching, workshops and study visits addressing more than 1500 participants, employees of the Ministry and affiliated entities. This has brought about, among other things, enhanced planning and decision-making capacities, development of an e-governance system, enhanced trade negotiation skills, improved trade related procedures and IPR regulations. The project contributed to include the modernization of MTI affiliated entities.
