50 Indian firms to participate in trade fair in Egypt

About 50 leading Indian machine tools and technology firms will participate in an international trade fair in Egypt this week to expand bilateral, commercial and economic relations in the sector.

A  varied range of the latest machinery will be exhibited in the four-day-long fair from November 16, according to a statement by the Engineering Export Promotion Council, an investment promotion organisation supported by the Indian government.

The event has been organised by the EEPC in association with the Indian embassy in Egypt.

Indian Envoy to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya said India is looking forward to collaborate and work with Egypt in these sectors through trade and investment.

The fair aims to expand bilateral, commercial and economic relations in general and machine tools sectors the statement said.

"The machine tool industry in India is a strategic industry segment as the manufacturing sector is dependent upon the machine tools," Bhattacharyya said.

This is another example of the success of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India, with some companies grow to become global leaders through efficiency, quality controls and technology improvements, Bhattacharyya added.

Major Indian cities like Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chennai contribute to almost 90 percent of the total production of metal cutting machines in the country.

On the other hand, 90 percent of total production of metal forming machines is from cities like Vadodara, Coimbatore, Batala, Jalandhar, Pune and Ludhiana.

Egypt has traditionally been one of India's most important trading partners in the African continent.

During the year 2016-17, the bilateral trade between India and Egypt was to the tune of USD 3.23 billion.

India is Egypt's 10th largest export destination and also the 10th largest import source, according to official data.