Helping Electronic Component SMEs Enter Middle East and North Africa Supply Chains
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA announced on the 29th that they will hold the '2024 Korea-Egypt Electronic Components Cooperation Seminar and Consultation Meeting' in Cairo, Egypt.
This event was organized to target the sourcing demands for materials, parts, and equipment of El Arabi, Egypt's largest electronics manufacturing and exporting company. The purpose is to establish supply channels between El Arabi and domestic materials, parts, and equipment companies, and further assist Korean companies in entering the supply chains of the Middle East and North Africa region.
The main events include ▲a cooperation seminar in the electronic components field ▲one-on-one export consultations ▲a tour of El Arabi’s factory. In particular, since about 35-40% of the materials and parts sourced by El Arabi are Korean products, more cooperation with Korean companies is expected through this event.
At the seminar held on the 29th, about 70 domestic and international stakeholders, including Egyptian companies and institutions, will participate both online and offline to discuss ways to enter the global supply chain through cooperation between the governments of both countries and participating companies. A representative from Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) will introduce the current status of Egypt’s electronics industry and policies for fostering electronic devices, and El Arabi will provide guidance on the sourcing procedures and policies for materials and parts.
In the subsequent consultation meeting, six domestic companies matched through a two-month demand analysis with eight subsidiaries of El Arabi will conduct 24 in-depth export consultations. The consultation items include ▲steel materials for home appliances ▲metal parts for home appliances ▲evaporators for refrigerators ▲washing machine parts ▲temperature controllers, among others. Notably, Korean companies that had consultations with El Arabi at the '2024 First Half Boom-up Korea' event held at COEX in April this year will also participate for follow-up consultations.
Ibrahim El Arabi, Chairman of El Arabi, said, "El Arabi’s mid- to long-term management plan is to strengthen the company’s manufacturing capabilities to actively enter the global supply chain and expand exports, and for this, producing high-quality products is very important." He added, "Through this event, we hope not only to source parts produced based on the excellent technology of Korean companies but also to have long-term manufacturing cooperation with Korea, including technology transfer, workforce training, and local production."
Shin Jaehyun, Head of KOTRA Cairo Trade Center, said, "To summarize Egypt in three points: a strategic hub connecting the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe; a manufacturing powerhouse in Africa; and the country with the largest working-age population in the Middle East." He added, "KOTRA will spare no effort in supporting exports, keeping in mind not only the domestic market in Egypt but also the potential for regional expansion of our companies."
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