Press Release No. 70
25 November 2007
‘MADE IN INDIA’ Show [Cairo, 20-23 November 2007]
The four-day ‘Made in India’ Show organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at the Cairo International Exhibition & Fair Grounds with the support of the Embassy of India, Cairo ended on 23 November. The objective of the event was to showcase India’s industrial and technological capabilities, and to promote development of institutional linkages between prominent business associations and chambers of industry in Egypt and CII. A total of 115 Indian companies representing the manufacturing and services sectors participated in the exhibition. The list of participants included public sector organizations, private sector companies, and Government of India entities.
2. To coincide with the Show, a 20-member delegation of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) led by Mr. Rajive Kaul, Past President CII and including Director-General, CII, Lt. Gen. Retd S.S. Mehta, visited Cairo. The delegation, accompanied by Ambassador Gopinathan, was received by Minister of Finance, H.E. Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali; Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, H.E. Eng. Amin Abaza; and, Minister for Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, H.E. Eng. Ahmed Amin El-Maghraby.
3. On 20 November, the CEOs’ delegation had an extensive interaction with the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association. The Federation of Egyptian Industries hosted the CEOs’ to a business meeting on 21 November. CII and the Federation of Egyptian Industries signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation. Both sides have agreed to explore the possibility of setting up a task force that will consider and recommend measures to boost bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. On 22 November Eng. Ashraf Arafa, Chairman of the Egypt India Joint Business Group hosted a luncheon interaction for the visiting CEOs’.
4. A seminar entitled “Business Opportunities in India and Egypt” was held on 21 November at which presentations were made by RITES on India’s railway sector and by Price Waterhouse Coopers (India) on the Indian economy and investment prospects in India. The General Authority for Foreign Investments and Special Zones (GAFI) of Egypt made a presentation on business prospects and the investment climate in Egypt.
5. A Gala Dinner organized at the Hotel Mena House Oberoi on 22 November was attended by a large number of Egyptian dignitaries and businessmen. Egyptian Minister of Social Solidarity H.E. Dr. Ali El-Sayed Al-Moselhi and Minister for Administrative Development, H. E. Dr. Ahmed Mahmoud Osman Darwish were the Chief Guests on the occasion.
6. A dance recital by the renowned Bharatnatyam exponent Ms. Jayalakshmi Eshwar and her troupe on 23 November at the Cairo Opera House marked the conclusion of the ‘Made in India’ Show. The Minister of Electricity of Egypt, H.E. Mr. Hassan Younis attended the cultural programme. The cultural programme was sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and supported by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture under the Indo-Egyptian Cultural Exchange Programme.
7. The ‘Made in India” Show was the first-ever India-specific industrial exhibition in Egypt. It was also unprecedented in terms of the number of Indian companies participating in any exhibition in Egypt. The Show helped to raise awareness, bring the Indian and Egyptian business communities closer, and to identify additional opportunities for bilateral economic and commercial cooperation.
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