Speech of the President of the Arab Federation Board of Directors in Cairo

H.E. Minister of Industry & Technology Development
H.E. the Ambassador
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am honored to be present with you this morning taking over the mission that has been initiated by the former President of the Federation, President Mustafa Marzouk.
On behalf of the participants, I would like to thank the French Agency for the International Promotion of UBIFRANCE companies, the French Association of the manufacturers of machinery and equipment for the paper board printing converting and packaging industries SCIPAG EMBALCO, the French economical delegations in the Arab countries as well as the French Embassy in Egypt.

We highly appreciate the presence of this significant number of leading French companies that have met to provide us with the latest technology in the paper, board-converting industries.

This seminar has achieved at least two of the main Federation's objectives: On the one hand, it is a significant opportunity to be introduced to modern technology. On the other hand, it is an opportunity for the members to meet each other.

With my appreciation and gratitude to these two parts, allow me to express some of the aspirations we long for. Combining the five parties, SCIPAG EMBALGO, UBIFRANCE, French Machinery Factory, the Arab paper Factory and the Arab Federation for Paper, Printing and Packaging Industries, could lead us to five fifths and every fifth multiplied by two equals ten. However, the five fifth equals twenty-five. This equation demonstrates what we could eventually obtain from further cooperation between these parties when all efforts are combined.

If the objective is to familiarize with modern technologies, we, as Arab companies, aspire to modernize our factories within a strategy planned for the future. We wish these new investments would not only settled for rehabilitating our factories but assisting each one of us in getting a specialization in a certain field and a certain production. These investments are to increase the chances of success of each company and not only to improve everyone's equipment. Once fulfilled, we return to the empty competition cycle again.

There is not doubt that one of the keys for of this success of this specialization is a minimal coordination between the institutions. As a Federation, we are ready to answer any call to help in this respect. It is our duty.

We also hope that opportunities of cooperation interact between our institutions and the European ones so as to face jointly globalization challenges in a way that we take advantage of the available capacities in some Arab countries especially that the converting of paper industry into recycling and remanufacturing coincides with such industry's requirements of available capacity in our region.

In addition, some of the projects undertaken in some Arab countries, mainly in the Public institutions that will be privatized, pave the way to new opportunities in this regard and will give the chance to the participating Arab and European groups to further coordinate in the building of their future. The developments that took place in the corrugated cardboard industry where the light paper is used from 80, 60 to even 40 grs per cubic meter in a serious and increasing way. Such developments led to converting some of the regular paper factories into the industry of necessary paper for the wrapping industry which create new openings for the current paper factories.

We aspire to build a win-win situation that could be profitable to everyone with consequences to improve all parties' situation. We welcome the European institutions that allow us to increase our production and improve its quality even if some of the importators were right regarding the diminution of chances reduction of exporting the final goods.
The state of things are they are show that by improving the equipment in our countries, we increase the machinery importation but in return, we decrease the goods import.

Nevertheless, we are capable of establishing together rules of effective cooperation as to, in case of success, will increase the trade exchange between the Arab and the European institutions operating in the paper sector relying each on its own specialization in different market segments. It is unlikely to expect an unlimited import increase of the Arab Countries for consuming goods but there is a chance of pushing the cooperation forward in order to widen the market shares to everyone especially that the geographical facts and the future indicators favorably support further cooperation between Europe and the Arab countries encouraged by the private institutions

Finally, I hope to organize such meetings in the future suggesting to broaden its scope as to reach the assistants in our working team. I would like to reiterate my thanks to the organizers appreciating their great effort. I wish to each one of you further success and to our institutions further development and prosperity.