23/11/2010
Al-Alam Alyom Newspaper 2010/NOVEMBER /23
There has been a suggestion to merge the Federation of Egyptian Industries with the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce. This old-new idea is aimed at creating a larger entity that is capable of protecting the interests of traders and manufacturers. It is also aimed at solving their problems and investigating the laws and regulations of the economic system at large. Protecting the national products at the internal market and overseas level is another task of the would-be entity.(Available in Arabic- German in PDF )
A question was asked: Do you agree on merging the Federation of Egyptian Industries with the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce? A majority of insiders argued that the two federations have different interests and face different problems. People against the merger say that in industrial countries one federation combines both sectors because they have a clear vision and relations are stable between manufacturers and traders. Egypt still must grow in this domain. People for the idea say that all businesspeople are in the same boat and the new entity would be powerful enough to impose its own laws and rules to achieve the interests of manufacturers and traders. The new entity should be chaired by an industrialist because each industrialist is a trader and not the reverse. The chairperson will also have two deputies; one representing each sector. The merger is the last step preceded by earlier steps such as full cooperation between the two federations, parallel mindsets and the creation of an agency to encompass all federations, investor associations and businesspeople with one goal in mind, to set up investment projects that promote the economic development plans and generate job openings.