Cairo – Ashraf Abo Arafe
The Ambassador of Switzerland Paul Garnier signed an agreement with Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar to launch a “Global Textiles and Clothing Programme” (GTex) aimed at enhancing the export competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as well as boosting employment and income generation along the textile and clothing value chain in five selected countries including Egypt.
Implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in the period of 2019-2021, the programme is financed by Switzerland (Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO) with a total cost of CHF 9.8 million for Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, provided as a grant dedicated to technical assistance, capacity building and knowledge management.
The programme will contribute to improving the performance of textile and clothing related trade support institutions such as export councils and training institutes. It will also build the capacities of SMEs in the sector by enhancing critical functions along the value chain such as technical skills at production level, design and stylist training, new sourcing destinations, marketing, quality management, participation in trade fairs and customs procedures as well as implementation of high social and environmental standards.
“The GTex project reflects Switzerland’s commitment to sustainable trade, competitiveness, setting up favorable economic conditions and improving access to employment in Egypt. I am confident that the programme will also introduce innovative and more value-added product lines in addition to opening up new marketing approaches for Egyptian SMEs,” said Ambassador Paul Garnier.
GTex in Egypt will enhance the competitiveness of the Egyptian clothing industry in selected subsectors. The project will provide technical assistance to selected Egyptian trade support institutions, to improve their managerial and operational performance as well as service offering and delivery. It will further build capacities of enterprises to adhere to and comply with identified market requirements and facilitate market linkages so that empowered SMEs will be able to promote and sell their products in new markets.
GTex will also facilitate knowledge management and policy dialogue through peer learning between the five countries and networking at regional and global levels. Furthermore, synergies with Swiss and international textile and clothing networks will be strengthened through exchanges of good practices.
