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AmCham Programs A large part of AmCham Egypt’s work to encourage trade and improve the Egyptian business environment is conducted through regular meetings of 19 committees, each focusing on a particular sector or area of interest. The committees provide a forum for AmCham members to raise issues about Egypt’s business climate. Prominent guest speakers from the government, international agencies and the private sector are frequently invited to discuss issues of concern or provide updates on new developments. AmCham Egypt’s committees also draft position papers to solicit government action on important business issues. (See “Committee Highlights.”) Larger events, such as luncheons and roundtable discussions, allow members and guests to hear the views of major political and business figures and represent a good networking opportunity for members. AmCham also organizes international business and economic conferences, and hosts breakfast briefings with visiting dignitaries and local officials. (See “Event Highlights.”) The DoorKnock missions to the United States represent a cornerstone of AmCham Egypt’s proactive approach. For the past two decades, the Chamber has sent annual delegations to Washington, DC for meetings with members of Congress, administration officials and U.S. business leaders. These visits are intended to inform U.S. decisionmakers in both the government and the private sector of the latest developments in Egypt’s economy. DoorKnock delegates answer questions and clear up misperceptions related to Egypt’s investment climate in order to encourage trade and investment between the two countries. (See “DoorKnock Report.”) AmCham Membership AmCham Egypt’s activities focus on the needs of its members, who are drawn primarily from private companies that operate in Egypt and have significant connections to the U.S. market. Member companies include Egyptian and American firms and multinationals as well as not-for-profit organizations. The Membership Services Department conducts orientation meetings to familiarize new members with AmCham Egypt’s full range of activities and benefits. Through the department’s Quality Benefits Program, member companies periodically offer special services or preferential discounts to fellow AmCham members. In 2004, the department managed to ensure the retention of existing members as well as to bring new members into the organization. As of year-end, AmCham Egypt had exceeded the 1,000-member mark, despite difficult economic circumstances. Following up on the practice started in 2003, the membership department continued recognizing long-standing members, with Chamber members of 15 years or more receiving commemorative plaques and token golden pins at a special reception. At the close of 2004, AmCham boasted 129 long-standing member companies and 92 long-standing individual members. The Annual Directory of Membership, which lists all AmCham Egypt’s members, is produced with the Publications Department. Career Development Center (CDC) and Recruitment Center The CDC offers a variety of services for human resources development designed to enhance the expertise of member companies. While the CDC sets it as a priority to tailor programs to the needs of AmCham members, its services are also available to the wider business community. The CDC offers a wide variety of business-related workshops as well as courses designed specifically to meet the needs of any given company or organization. It offers professional designation programs as part of its belief that raising the level of professionalism will lead to a better business environment. The CDC offers preparatory courses for the following certificates:
The CDC is also the sole authorized site in Egypt for the examinations leading to the internationally recognized Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified Bank Auditor (CBA) certificates. In 2004, the CDC launched the Certified e-Marketing (CeMA) certificate, which is solely available through AmCham Egypt. The CDC also plans to launch the Certified Business Manager (CBM) and Certified Associate Business Manager (CABM) certificates during the first half of 2005. With the notion that any professional seeking excellence in his field has to be well acquainted with computer applications, the CDC offers a variety of computer courses designed to familiarize future executives with rapid changes in computer programs. As an added value service, the CDC also held the first Employment Fair for Executives and Middle Management in Egypt. The event allowed 43 companies from a variety of sectors to showcase more than 350 employment opportunities – an impressive figure given the high caliber of the positions. The figures only confirmed the notion that the growing private sector in Egypt will help create new job opportunities. Feedback from the fair was highly positive. The Recruitment Center, meanwhile, aims to put qualified job seekers in touch with prospective employers. Through the AmCham website, the center advertises job openings for local and international companies and refers job-seeking applicants to suitable employers. Business Information Center (BIC) In 2004, the BIC developed valuable and wide-ranging services for AmCham members in Cairo and Alexandria as well as the business community at large. These services are crucial in advancing the competitiveness of Egyptian business and keeping abreast of the rapidly changing global market. The BIC has developed the AmCham website to serve as an e-access point for Egypt-U.S. bilateral trade and economic information, while bringing together all products and services provided by AmCham departments in one, easy-to-navigate place. Reflecting its commitment to serving members using the latest technology, AmCham Egypt officially launched its Cyberlink in May 2004. Cyberlink’s objective is to create an online community of AmCham member companies, which can remotely publish and view information such as staff directories, member news, member events, and requests for proposals and exclusive offers. Using Cyberlink, members have online access to membership renewal, the AmCham calendar of events and audio recordings of speeches given at AmCham events. Moreover, they can update their membership information anytime. In 2004, more than 580 members updated their information online. AmCham Egypt was the first association in Egypt to offer an online registration/payment system. The system allows the operation department to design and send invitations for events via e-mail. AmCham members can then register themselves and their guests with a simple click of the mouse. Furthermore, members and subscribers to AmCham services can safely pay online with their credit cards using the website. In 2004, 464 members used the system to register and invite 3,451 guests to 114 AmCham events and 208 online payment transactions were conducted. As part of its mandate to improve the quality of business information, the BIC is now offering free online access to the Tenders Alert Service (TAS), which notifies subscribers about upcoming tenders, projects and news, categorized by business sectors. More than 33,000 tenders have been published on the site since November 2000. The service is user friendly with an advanced search function to allow users to search by free text, published date or tender validity. Users can also receive new updates by e-mail alerts on a regular basis. The number of subscribers to the IT sector exceeded 5,000, sponsored by Microsoft, Cisco, Telecom Egypt, MobiNil and Xerox. The online Business Matchmaking service provides a free forum for browsing and submitting business opportunities, such as offers to buy or sell products, requests for trade partners or investors, and notifications of import/export opportunities. A weekly e-mail alert feature allows users to receive new business opportunities related to their sector of interest. In 2004, more than 8,500 users subscribed to this service, in order to view 227 published business opportunities. These users made 13,865 requests for contact information. Receiving an average of 400,000 requests (page views) per month from an audience of high-quality, business-oriented viewers, the AmCham Egypt website is an attractive channel for ad placement. Among the notable achievements in 2004 were more than 681,000 visitors to the AmCham website that made 4.1 million requests. Thirty-nine companies, primarily in the fields of banking, automotive, IT and tourism, have already placed banner ads on the site. The BIC is offering website development, intranet and extranet to Egyptian businesses to provide easier access to their products or services, and increase revenue opportunities through their Internet sales. A special 25-percent discount was introduced for NGOs. In 2004, the BIC developed websites for the Egypt Tax Society, the Fulbright Commission, Amideast and the Jesuits Graduate Community. AmCham’s videoconferencing service has helped several local and multinational companies to save time, effort and costs by conducting remote meetings, interviews, thesis discussions, e-learning and depositions. In 2004, the BIC conducted more than 130 hours of videoconferencing sessions between Egypt and countries in Europe, North America and elsewhere in the Middle East. In September 2004, AmCham Egypt had the honor of hosting Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif at a monthly luncheon attended by 830 members and guests. The event was transmitted live via AmCham’s videoconferencing facilities to personnel at the Smart Village. The BIC uses state-of-the-art equipment, has a high-speed international connection up to 512k, and meeting rooms accommodating up to 50 people to conduct conferences between up to four parties. In 2004, the BIC signed two contracts to offer the Online Training Service (OTS) and the Online Faxing Service (OFS), to be launched in 2005. The OTS will provide a new way of training to help you learn what you want, whenever you want and save both time and money. The online courses will be easily accessible via the Internet through both high-speed and dial-up connections. The OFS will provide an advanced, easy and inexpensive system to send thousands of local and international personalized faxes from a client or any web browser connected to the Internet. The BIC aims to expand its support to the business community by launching new services in 2005. Business Studies & Analysis Center (BSAC) BSAC monitors trends in the Egyptian economy, as well as developments in particular sectors, and produces reports and bulletins to inform and advise investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers. In 2004, BSAC produced comprehensive reports on Egypt’s textile industry and a bank ranking study, and updated its two trade guides – one on exporting to the United States market and the other on importing from the United States to Egypt. The center also produced a booklet on Egypt-U.S. trade and investment relations, broken down by sector. Along with its output of sector studies and industrial data, BSAC continued to work closely with AmCham-Egypt’s committees in the drafting of position papers on policy and legislative issues of importance to the business community. In 2004, BSAC published a conference proceedings book on the “Reform of the Egyptian Financial Sector,” which provided a comprehensive vision on reforming the Egyptian financial sector. During 2004, BSAC sold and distributed over 1,500 copies to members, policymakers, government officials, academics, reference libraries and donor agencies. The center’s Egypt Watch bulletin, sent by e-mail to AmCham members and other subscribers every two weeks, contains news briefs extracted from local and international press sources. BSAC’s economists also provide special consultations upon request and respond to business-related inquiries. During 2004, BSAC specialists responded to over 250 inquiries on various issues related to trade and investment in Egypt. Publications Amcham Egypt publishes a range of materials directed at people doing business or hoping to do business in Egypt. The Annual Directory of Membership, produced by the Membership Services Department in conjunction with the Publications Department, provides addresses, phone numbers, corporate descriptions and other information about all of AmCham Egypt’s member companies. The directory also lists government ministries and other authorities in Egypt and the United States. The 2004-05 edition was published in September 2004, with a print run of 2,000. Directories were distributed free to all AmCham Egypt members, and were available to non-members for £E 100. Business Monthly, AmCham Egypt’s official journal, continued to provide in-depth, independent reporting on business and the economy in a monthly newsmagazine format. A special section of the magazine covers AmCham Egypt events and activities. Over the course of 2004, the magazine maintained a minimum page count of 72 pages, distributing over 8,000 copies to subscribers in Egypt and the United States. In late 2004, the Publications Department also produced the AmCham Egypt 2005 Desktop Calendar, circulated free with the December issue of Business Monthly. The department covered its production costs through advertising contributions in the directory, the magazine and the calendar. Publications staff also designed and produced promotional material for other departments of the Chamber and handled the printing of BSAC’s reports and guides. In addition, the Publications Department produced delegate brochures and other materials for AmCham missions to the United States. The Publications Department also produces the Annual Report of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, which makes public the organization’s constitution and yearly financial statement, in addition to summarizing its achievements and activities over the previous year. Copies of the Annual Report are distributed to all members and can be obtained free on request by non-members. American Business Center (ABC) AmCham is extending its membership services to American businesses setting up operations in Egypt. According to a membership services agreement, member companies are offered privileges of associate membership in addition to temporary occupancy of office space and usage of several business facilities. The American Business Center is located on the ninth floor of the AmCham premises and is currently hosting several American companies that are starting their business activities in Egypt , as well as the Oxford Business Group (OBG), a London-based publisher of annual business-related country studies. OBG has continued to utilize space on the AmCham premises to work on its annual Emerging Egypt book, published in association with AmCham Egypt . OBG has just completed work on the 2005 edition of the book. Trade-Related Assistance Center (TRAC)
In October 2005, the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt signed an agreement to launch the USAID-backed Trade-Related Assistance Center (TRAC), a trade resource for both local and international businesses that will work to ensure that the private sector’s interests and potential gains are maximized in free trade agreements (FTAs), especially the proposed Egypt-US FTA.
Through the TRAC project, AmCham is able to better facilitate business ties with potential US customers, advocate trade and business positions and enhance the ability of firms and industries to capitalize on available business
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