European TEX-MED Clusters project launched in Egypt

According to a statement issued by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, the TEX-MED project would be implemented in Alexandria with the support of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, and the Arab Academy of Science and Technology--the agencies that are partners of the European initiative in the country.

Ahmed Al-Wakil, chairman of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and vice president of the Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said that the project aims to attract investments, transfer technologies and modern management methods as well as increase exports.

Ismail Abdel Ghafar, head of the Arab Academy of Science and Technology, said the project is an example of success of link between production centers and academic as well as research centers, where the Academy will provide training and technical assistance to ensure the adaptation of transfer of technologies and modern management methods in Egyptian textile and clothing industries.

The project is funded under the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) Cross Border Cooperation (CBC) in the Mediterranean (MED) countries, and is also known as the ‘Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme’.

Eight Mediterranean regions from seven countries, such as Tuscany in Italy, Catalonia in Spain, Thessaloniki in Greece, Tunis and Monastir in Tunisia, Alexandria in Egypt, Bethlehem in Israel and Amman in Jordan, form part of this project.

The two-year project, ending in 2015, has a budget of €2 billion, of which €1.7 billion is funded by the ENPI CBC MED programme, whereas the remaining €300,000 would be financed by the eight project partners in the eight regions.

The TEX-MED Clusters project’s main objective is to increase the volume of links, partnerships and cooperation between the textile industries in the Mediterranean countries and create an integrated Mediterranean textile system.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India