After three successful days of the trade fair "Egypt Water, Waste and Infrastructure – Empowering Innovations" in Cairo, the organizers Expotec Internationale, with German association of medium-sized businesses BVMW, announced the second edition in 2023.
Expotec Managing Director Frank Hoffmann said: "We are proud to have attracted to this first event participants from seven countries with a multiple of exhibitors.
"The debut of the water fair was a complete success: exclusive and at the same time bigger than we had hoped for the first edition.
"We are delighted with the great, positive response. We see a lot of potential to further expand the trade fair concept in the coming years, especially in the waste sector."
Represented with classy booths were the Egyptian big players in the water industry, this increasingly important sector of the economy. The Cairo Water Company alone was on site with a large booth with 15 sub-exhibitors numerous experts.
Other Egyptian companies such as HCCO Holding Company for Construction and Development, The Arab Constructors Group, Hassan Allam and Soul Water presented themselves and their expertise at their own stands.
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The Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure & Utilities and the Ministry of Environment with contact persons on site emphasized with their presence additionally the importance and topicality of this future topic.
The opening also received not only great, but above all attention from the official side: H.E. Dr Sayed Ismail, the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure, cutting the ribbon at the ceremonial opening in the presence of numerous VIP guests and official representatives.
H.E. Dr Abdel Qawi Khalifa, Former Minister for Water and Wastewater Utilities, H.E. Dr Hisham Zaazou Former Minister of Tourism of Egypt & Ambassador of BVMW Association for Egypt, Hisham Abou El Atta, CEO of Holding Company for Construction and Development joined the opening ceremony.
Mr Georg Krenn Austrian Commercial Counsellor from Austrian Embassy and Mr Alexis Below, Head of Economic Department German Embassy also attended
Mr Below said: "German companies can play a crucial role in providing the necessary technology, knowledge and experience in tackling the challenges of better access to water and connecting people better to the waste and water infrastructure.
"I believe this conference is another great opportunity to discuss and provide practical solutions to many of the problems." German participation at the fair was correspondingly extensive.
Total 22 German exhibitors, distributed over 15 booths, were on site, as well as German business associations, such as BVMW, the German Association of Medium-Sized Businesses, the AHK, German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce, as well as the GIZ - German Society for International Cooperation.
Other European countries such as Austria and Denmark present news from the industry and their know-how with their own booth, but also Japan, India, Turkey and Jordan showed presence.
The fair was underpinned by an exclusive three-day conference with numerous technical presentations and expert roundtable discussions.
Ms Radmila Labus, representative of BVMW for Egypt, the largest association of SMEs with 1 million member companies and the main person responsible for the conference program, sums up as follows:
"Especially the three days of presentations, exchanges and roundtable discussions showed how much demand there is for know-how and expertise in this important future topic."
"Building on our overwhelming experience and response to this year's congress, we not only want to expand the congress offering in the next edition of EWWI, but also extend it thematically."
"We would like to bring together Egyptian startups from the water & waste economy sector with international business angels in a pitch competition."
In addition to the participating companies and organizations, many experts, professional societies and engineers will also be invited to the next "Egypt Water, Waste and Infrastructure" to make it a successful industry meeting for knowledge transfer and business contacts.
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