CAIRO — Thousands of factories are rushing to join the initiative of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to encourage the purchase of local products. Mohamed Abdel Salam, head of the ready-made garment chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said in a Jan. 11 press statement that the number of clothing factories alone to join the initiative amounted to 300 factories as of the time of writing.
Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly had held a meeting on Jan. 3 in the presence of Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala al-Saeed, Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine el-Kabbaj and officials of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce in Cairo to follow up on the steps required to start activating the initiative. Madbouly noted the need to accelerate implementation, as the initiative aims to provide citizens’ needs for goods at reduced prices through local products in addition to putting the market and sales in motion.
According to an official statement issued by the government following the meeting, the attendees were briefed on the most important axes of the initiative, which include defining a list of goods that are most important to citizens and locally available; the outlets that will participate in the distribution of goods; how to finance those outlets and some factories and producers; and how to market products, as well as price governance. The statement clarified that the contents of the preliminary list of commodities and distribution points participating in the initiative and financing mechanisms have been set, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce.
In terms of marketing, the statement indicated that there is a proposal to set up a website to display and sell the products participating in the initiative, in addition to organizing a central exhibition in Cairo to market these products, and other exhibitions in the governorates in coordination with the governors, provided that governance is carried out through field follow-up of the exhibitions by the concerned ministries and a mechanism to receive possible complaints about the initiative is developed.
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