Egypt's Ministers of Investment and Foreign Trade, Industry, and Labour held two high-level meetings with key industry stakeholders to strengthen the competitiveness of the pharmaceutical and ready-made garments sectors, increase exports, and deepen local manufacturing.
Egypt's government has initiated a coordinated effort to bolster two key export sectors through high-level discussions. The meetings, involving Ministers of Investment and Foreign Trade, Industry, and Labour, targeted the pharmaceutical and ready-made garments industries to enhance competitiveness, expand exports, and promote local production.
The first gathering focused on pharmaceuticals, where Minister of Industry Khaled Hashem and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Mohamed Farid Saleh met with manufacturers and representatives from the Export Council for Medical and Pharmaceutical Industries. Attendees included Deputy Minister of Higher Education Hossam Othman, officials from the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, the Egyptian Drug Authority, and the Financial Regulatory Authority, among other trade and investment bodies.
Talks centered on an executive roadmap for developing medical and pharmaceutical industries, emphasizing production localization, increasing local components in manufacturing, integrating scientific research, and entering new export markets for sustainable growth. Hashem stated the Ministry of Industry's readiness to connect industrialists with researchers for pharmaceutical projects, stressing the use of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence in drug development to cut time, effort, and costs.
He noted substantial government support for the sector, including industrial financing and export aid, due to its role in domestic needs and exports. The ministry aims to improve factory efficiency via technical programs and tech upgrades, ensuring international quality standards and foreign registration compliance.
Farid called medical industries a strategic export pillar, especially for Africa and high-potential regions. He mentioned activating financing and incentives to aid manufacturers in external expansion and global market access. Priorities include localizing raw materials to reduce imports, boosting drug security, attracting biotech investments, and fostering university-research-industry ties for faster innovation and streamlined licensing.
Pharmaceutical export council members praised the meeting's outcomes, underscoring public-private partnerships to tackle operational and marketing hurdles abroad.
In the parallel garments initiative, the ministers joined Export Council for Ready-Made Garments members, with input from six entities like the Financial Regulatory Authority and General Authority for Investment and Free Zones. The aim was to build competitiveness through better financing, training, technology in production chains, and government-private coordination.
Farid highlighted operational improvements for stable production and quality, addressing labor issues with flexible mechanisms balancing employer-employee interests. He advocated expanded specialized training to match global patterns and build skilled labor for growth, plus market expansion via trade agreements and performance-linked export rebates.
Hashem reaffirmed commitment to localizing the garments value chain for added value and competitiveness. He described the sector as highly competitive, backed by strong reputation and global brand partnerships. The ministry offers serviced industrial land quarterly via the Digital Egypt Industrial Platform; the latest includes 1,272 plots spanning 9.78 million square meters in 35 zones across 23 governorates, with about 800 in Upper Egypt for regional balance.
Labour Minister Hassan Raddad heard exporters' concerns on hours, wages, and foreign permits, pledging to remove investment barriers and foster decent conditions for productivity, exports, and secure jobs.
Garment exporters appreciated the engagement, calling for technical aid, training, flexible energy pricing, smoother customs, and smart manufacturing to raise productivity, cut waste, and resilient supply chains.