JEDDAH, 31 August 2006 — Jeddah Governor Prince Mishaal ibn Majed yesterday opened the 16th Egyptian Exhibition at the Jeddah International Exhibition Center in Jeddah. The exhibition is going to be taking place between Aug. 30 and Sept. 6. Attendance for the first day of the exhibition, which has been running since 1990, was described as poor in comparison to previous years.
According to organizers there have only been 10 exhibitors presenting their wares this year - previous exhibitions have seen up to 300 exhibitors participating. The poor attendance of exhibitors has been attributed to the economic changes in both countries after joining the World Trade Organization. Another reason behind the turnout is the strong price competition facing Egyptian products by cheaper Chinese-manufactured goods.
Products exhibited included readymade clothes, leather items, woodwork, house appliances and Khan Al-Khalili products. This year’s exhibition did not showcase real estate investment opportunities and nor heavy items like cars, tractors and medical products.
The Egyptian General Consul Afifi Abdul Wahab said that the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Egypt has grown in recent years and that the commercial exchange between the two countries has also increased. He added that the Kingdom is the number one investor in Egypt with Saudi Arabia investing more than $10 billion a year - Egypt is optimistic the level of investments will increase in the coming ten years.
