IMC, Creative Mediterranean Project sign MoU, foster creative industry

CAIRO – 7 May 2018: Creative Hub Egypt hosted Monday its first Strategic Stakeholders Networking Event at its premises in mohandeseen; the event was followed by an interactive networking seminar.

The event brought together key actors to foster cooperation in Egypt’s creative industry and improve Egypt’s ability to compete globally in said industry.

The event started off with a tour of the creative hub in Omar Afandi in mohandeseen, whereby guests enjoyed the Egyptian-made artistic products, full of character and originality. Then, Ahmed Taha, IMC executive director, welcomed the audience and gave a short speech, followed by speeches by Senior Assistant to MTI Minister, Dalia Salem, Director and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Representative in Egypt, Giovanna Ceglie, Italian Ambassador in Egypt, H.E Giampaolo Cantini, and EU Ambassador to Egypt, H.E Ivan Surkoš.

A Memorandum of Understanding was then signed between the Industrial Modernization Centre (IMC) and the Creative Mediterranean Project.

During the event, designers were able to showcase their success stories and present their ideas to contribute to the inclusive and sustainable industrial development of the industry in Egypt. The project is also set to increase job opportunities in Egypt.

Creative Hub Egypt is an outcome of the Creative Mediterranean, a regional project supported by Union for Mediterranean (UfM), funded by the European Union (EU) with a contribution from the Italian Cooperation, and implemented by UNIDO.

By promoting dialogue between decision makers and entrepreneurs, this networking event will be an important milestone to discuss tailor-made policies and programs positioning creativity and design as a competitive advantage for Egyptian industries.

Supporting Egyptian creative industry

Creative Hub Egypt supports creative innovators, designers and SMEs in various fields by deepening the understanding of the global design and industrial concepts, enhancing the link between young innovators and industrial and governmental entities, as well as promoting cultural awareness.

The Creative Hub Egypt was inaugurated in November 2017 by H.E engineer Tareq Qabil, minister of trade and industry, as a platform for creative services provision and as a tool to foster innovation, entrepreneurship and integration of Egyptian youth to economic activities. The hub offers a wide range of services to designers and innovative entrepreneurs mainly to reinforce creativity in the industrial arena, through vast technical and business capacity building programs, product development workshops, co-working spaces, business-to-business (B2B) networking, advisory services and prototyping machinery available. This, therefore, sheds light on the strategic importance and potential of the design-based industries.

A healthy cooperation

Creative Mediterranean, funded by the European Union with a contribution of the Italian Cooperation, supported by the Union for Mediterranean and implemented by UNIDO, fosters entrepreneurial co-operation in cultural and creative industries of the Southern Mediterranean. The aim of the project is to demonstrate the creative potential in the region and to put creativity at the center of local economic development by supporting access to new markets and employment opportunities in 13 clusters of the creative sector.