الفهرس 
الملامح العامة للقدرة التنافسيةيوجد فقط 14 صفحة متاحة للعرض العام
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المستخلص
1.Introduction:
Egyptian economy has achieved good economic growth rates during the time period from 1990/2000 – 2009/2010. Average economic growth rate during this period was 4.6%, and economic growth rates during the years 2007 and 2008 were 7.1% and 7.2% respectively.
Although economic growth rates achieved during this time period, the welfare level of the Egyptian society doesn’t increase, whereas average inflation rate during this time period was 9%, and inflation rates during the years 2007, 2008, and 2009 were 12.6%, 12.2% and 10.8% respectively. And with freezing income level, real income level decreased for the majority of Egyptian society, specifically during the last years of the 1st decade of 21st century. With respect to unemployment rate, its average rate during this time period was 9.6%, and it takes growing path during this time period.
Total domestic production (at 2011/2012 constant prices) reached some LE 2405.8 billion in fiscal year 2012/2013, against LE 2357.4 billion in the preceding fiscal year, with a growth rate of 2.1%. Likewise it achieved (at current prices) around LE 2618.7 billion (against LE 2357.4 billion), realizing a growth rate of 11.1% compared with the previous fiscal year.
GDP (at factor cost and 2011/2012 constant prices) reached about LE 1539.6 billion against LE 1508.5 billion) with a growth rate of 2.1%. The main contributors at pectoral level were agriculture, irrigation and fishing; manufacturing; the general government; transportation and storage; and tourism.
GDP (at current prices and factor cost) grew at a rate of 11.2% posting LE 1677.4 billion) against LE 1508.5 billion.
GDP (at 2011/2012 constant market prices) reached about LE 1608.6 billion during fiscal year 2012/2013, with a growth rate of 2.1% compared with the preceding fiscal year. On the other hand, GDP (at current market prices) posted about LE 1753.3 billion, with a growth rate of 11.3% relative to previous fiscal year.
About the manufacturing sector, it is one of the most powerful engines of growth. It acts as a catalyst to transform the economic structure of countries from simple, slow-growing and low value added activities, to more productive activities that enjoy greater margins. It helps a country to compete in medium and high-bech industries that have higher growth prospects, so it can increase countries’ export revenues, in addition to its ability of creating many job opportunities.
Manufacturing can substantially increase the total value added of an economy, because it has backward and forward linkages with agriculture and service sectors, and has become the main means for developing countries to benefit from globalization, and to bridge the income gap with the industrialized world through the insertion of competitive domestic enterprises into global value chains, and opening up new export markets. Aided by new technologies in transporta-tion and communications, and by international trade agreem-ents under supervision of World Trade Organization (WTO), global industries are in the process of internationalizing their value chains.
2. Study Importance:
(A) This study concerns with the competitiveness of the industrial sector, and its reflections on the commodity structure of the Egyptian foreign trade. So the study concerns with one of the most important sectors in the Egyptian economy, which is manufacturing sector. This sector has the ability to increase income levels; decrease unemployment rate; maintain price level stability; local currency appreciation; and achieve high and increasing economic growth rates, which ultimately leads to an increase the standard levels of citizens.
(B) The Egyptian economy characterizes as a sensitive economy to imports, with respect to its excessive dependence on the imports of inter mediate and capitalist goods to follow the production process on one hand, and on the imports of some foodstuffs commodities to meet the domestic needs on the other hand.
(C) The volume of Egypt’s foreign trade declined by 0.9% to US $83.5 billion in fiscal year 2012/2013. This was due to the 2.9% retreat in imports to US $57.5 billion, and the 3.6% rise in exports to 26.0 billion. The EU was the main trade partner, accounting for 32.7% of the total volume of trade, followed by the Asian Countries (19.9%) and the Arab Countries (19.7%).
(D) Merchandise exports rose by 3.6% to US $26 billion, due to the pickup of 7.0% in oil exports, (46.2% of total exports) and 0.9% in non-oil exports (53.8% of total exports).
In terms of merchandise classification, raw materials increased by 14.4%, fuel and mineral oils by 4.8%, semi-finished goods by 2.7%, and finished goods by 1.2%.
(E) Import payments dropped by 2.9% to US $27.5 billion, as an outcome of the decrease in non-oil imports by 5.1% (78.3% of total imports), and the rise in oil imports by 6.1% (21.7% of total imports). At the level of merchandise classification, fuel, mineral oils and products dropped by 4.0%, intermediate goods by 5.4%, and consumer goods by 5.3%. in contrast, raw materials rose by 7.3%, and investment goods by 1.9%.
(F) Geographical distribution of exports and imports : As a market for Egyptian exports, the EU countries continued to rank first, accounting for 37.2% of the total. Exports to these countries were mainly crude oil; oil products; electric appliances, recording and TV appliances and articles thereof; fertilizers, and soap, detergents and artificial waxes.
The Arab Countries ranked second, with a share of 20%, chiefly importing electric appliances, recording and TV appliances and articles thereof; oil products; gold, pearls and precious stones; miscellaneous edible preparations, and iron and steel products.
Turning to Egypt’s imports, the EU countries remained the main exporter, with a share of 30.7% of the total, exporting mainly oil products; pharmaceuticals; iron and steel products; and organic and inorganic chemicals.
Asian countries ranked second, with a share of 21%, exporting mainly cars accessories and parts thereof; ready-made clothes; vehicles for passengers; plastic and articles thereof; and organic and inorganic chemicals.
3. Study Objectives:
(A) Analyzing the efficiency of economic growth of the Egyptian economy during the time period 2000-2012.
(B) Showing the importance of manufacturing sector at the global economy level, and evaluating its standing and development role in supporting the Egyptian economy, and government role in supporting this sector.
(C) Assessment of the industrial policy effect on the competitive industrial sector in Egypt.
(D) Studding determinants of the Egyptian manufacturing sector competitiveness, and determine its rank all over the world.
(E) Analyzing Merchandise Exports by degree of Processing; Merchandise Imports by degree of use; Exports by geographical distribution; Imports by geographical distribution; Egypt’s volume of trade with its main trade partners; main exports and main imports by commodity and geo graphical distribution- during the time period 2000-2012.
4. Study Hypothesizes :
(A) There is no accurate definion, and no inclusive concept for the competitiveness.
(B) Indicators and limitations of the industrial competitive affect many countries with different manner, because of different and stages of development.
(C) The Egyptian Imports characterize with / high degree of concentration on a few limited of the merchandises, and also a high level of geographical concentration.
(D) The structure of the Egyptian Industrial production concentrates on industries of extensive natural resources, and of low technology which minimize the competitive-ness of the Egyptian Exports, to enter the global market.
5. Study time Limitation:
This study covers the time period which starts from the year 2000 (the year at which the Egyptian Industrial Modernization center starts as an independent unit for giving a push to modernize the Egyptian industrial sector, with a finance between the European Union (EU), the Egyptian government, and the Egyptian Private Sector) and its ends at the year 2012 (the year at which the researcher can find perfect and complete data for all the variables used in the study).
6. Study Methodology:
This study describes the importance of manufacturing sector, and analyses available data in order to understand its development role in supporting the Egyptian economic development process. It, also, describe and analysis competitive ability of the Egyptian manufacturing sector and its reflections on the commodity structure of the Egyptian foreign trade.
7. Study Results:
With respect to the quality by which available resources are allocated and used in Egypt:
(A) There is misuse of the huge amount of resources that were enabled to Egypt through Exports, remittance, foreign aids and domestic saving, and then the cost of economic growth achieved through the time period (1980-2010) was high.
(B) The main source of changing in the Egyptian real GDP was growth of physical inputs used in the production process, and this leads to inability to assimilate the increased number of labour force in Egypt, and hence increase unemployment rate. This can be return to the low productivity level of the Egyptian employee.
With respect to the competitive ability of the Egyptian industry:
(A) There is no harmony between the Egyptian industrial Export structure and the international one, where primary product’s exports represent about 60% of the Egyptian Merchandise Exports, while manufacturing product’s exports represent about 40% (in year 1995), and then this percent starts to decline through the time period (1995-2008) until it reached about 21% in the year 2008.
(B)Just 3% of the Egyptian Merchandise Exports with Middle and High technology content.
(C) Egypt got low rank with respect to competitive industrial performance index, where its rank was 71 (in the year 2008), 77 (in the year 2008) and was 81 (in the year 2009) – which can be return to low skill levels, inability to utilize foreign direct investment; and weak infrastructure level. Also Egypt got low rank with respect to global competitiveness index, where its rank was 70 in the year 2010/2011 (of 133 countries) to 81 (of 139 country), which can be return to inability to achieve macroeconomic stability, deterioration of education and health levels, goods market inefficiency, and finally low expenditure level on research and development issues and missing the link with industrial activity.
8.Study Recommendations:
(A) The Egyptian government should eliminate all manners of economic waste of its available resources, through the elimination of political and economic corruption using strong institutional framework which provides supporting environment for economic development. It has to increase its human resources productivity through decreasing illiteracy rate, supporting education, health, training and research systems, and insures equal distribution of income, where income gaps and poverty lead to absence of tasking and felling the economic growth achieved by a country for a huge amount of citizens, and which finally leads to kill their motive to increase their productivity.
(B) It is necessary to increase manufacturing export’s shares, and increases the technological component of these manufacturing products.
On the short-run, government can achieve these objectives through relying on foreign direct investment.
On the long-run, the government has to restructure and develop the education system, focusing on the technical and industrial education, and finally increase expenditure on research and development issues and linking them with the industrial activity.