[LINK] "Egypt’s industrial sector struggles with growing Chinese presence"

[rfmcdonald]

Al-Monitor's Khalid Hassan reports on the worrying state of Egypt's industrial sector.

Faced with various economic challenges, the Egyptian government now has to protect its national industry from Chinese goods, which are both cheaper and made to better suit the population’s needs.

Although the quality of Chinese products might be at times questioned, they were met with large demand because of their low prices, as the number of Chinese companies in Egypt rose from 1,000 in 2010 to 1,198 in 2015.

The market for these products has grown considerably and become a primary factor behind the current economic downturn, leading former Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour to decree in April 2015 an import ban on all Chinese imitations of Egypt's traditional handicrafts in an attempt to curb this invasion of the Egyptian market.

[. . .]

Not only are Chinese goods found at local shops, but Chinese vendors now visit Egyptians in their houses to sell them their goods, which mainly include clothing, pottery and electronics.

In terms of foreign investment in Egypt, China ranks 24th, with 1,198 Chinese businesses investing a total of $468.5 million in the country, mainly in the industrial and financial services sectors.