The opening was attended by: Salih Mutlu Şen, Ambassador of Turkey to Cairo; Dan Munyuza, Ambassador of Rwanda to Cairo; and Dr. Hesham Safwat, President of the ASHRAE Cairo Association. Representatives of a group of companies specializing in refrigeration and air conditioning, representatives of industrial chambers, university professors, and leaders from the Ministry of Industry were also present.
Al-Wazir expressed his pleasure at participating in the opening of this exhibition, which specializes in refrigeration, air conditioning, heating, and thermal insulation. These are important industries that are now indispensable, whether for household and human needs, or for food preservation and industry in general. He pointed out the need to focus on increasing and deepening the production of refrigeration and air conditioning components and manufacturing their requirements locally, rather than simply assembling refrigerants and air conditioners.
He explained that the refrigeration and air conditioning industry, like other industries, requires significant energy consumption to operate. This can be compensated for by expanding reliance on new energies such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, and other renewable energy sources. He noted that the government is ready to enter into partnerships with serious private sector companies that wish to fully manufacture air conditioning units in Egypt, or any other product the state aims to fully localize (such as aluminum sectors and products, railway industries, and elevators), whether by relying on the Egyptian manufacturer itself or by entering into a partnership with a major global company in this field.
The Minister pointed to the possibility of establishing partnerships between private sector companies and public sector factories to manufacture locally, increasing the percentage of local components in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector to 70-80%. The government seeks to attract foreign investment in various fields, but Egyptian private sector companies are better able to achieve this goal by attracting international companies to manufacture in Egypt. He stressed that Egypt is open to cooperation with various friendly countries, such as Turkey, China, the United States, and various European and African countries willing to cooperate with Egypt to deepen local manufacturing. These countries believe in Egypt's ability to advance industry and attract real investment, given its stability and security.
Al-Wazir indicated his aspiration to visit the exhibition next year to see the efforts made by Egyptian companies to expand their factories, which have succeeded in deepening the refrigeration and air conditioning industry and increasing the components and production requirements for this important sector. He stressed the need to focus on providing production requirements locally, similar to the concept of the reverse exhibition organized by the Ministry of Industry to coordinate between manufacturers of production requirements and companies in need of these requirements, contributing to reducing reliance on imports, especially given the industry's ability to manufacture them locally.
The Minister also toured Exhibition to explore the latest technological developments in this field. He praised the quality of the products on display and the significant developments witnessed by the local industry. He also visited the Ministry of Industry's participating agencies and entities to introduce visitors to their services, including the Industrial Development Authority, the General Authority for Standardization and Quality, the Productivity and Vocational Training Authority, the Cleaner Production Technology Center, and the Quality Improvement Center.