Dr Martino Melli, Head of AICS Cairo, attended last Tuesday, December 10th, the launching ceremony of The Technical Assistance to Implement Robbiki Leather City Project funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). The ceremony started with a welcoming speech by Dr Ashraf Samuel, the project team leader. Samuel highlighted the importance of developing Egypt’s fifth most important industrial sector, the leather industry. He added that the leather sector offers new job opportunities and improves Egyptian citizens’ quality of life. He stated that today is the beginning of the real work towards changing production to fit global and international standards.
The ceremony officially commenced with Eng’s keynote speech. Mahmoud Mehrez, Vice Chairman of Cairo for Investment and Development. Mehrez highlighted the pivotal role played by AICS in the leather sector in Egypt in general and Robbiki Leather City in particular. He explained that AICS had contributed more than 50 million euros in moving the leather industry to a space that is more than 306 feddans big. Furthermore, he added that the Italian experience in the leather industry had supported Egypt with designs, studies, training and industrial input, which affected the industry tremendously. Mehrez requested that the project should work to equip both the Leather Tanning Technology Center LTTC and the training centre with the latest technologies to enable them to graduate capable, trained and competitive workforces. At the end of his speech, he thanked Italy and AICS for their efforts in enhancing the leather sector in Egypt, wishing for future collaborations.
In his keynote speech, Dr Martino Melli, Head of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation Cairo, addressed the importance of the cooperation between Egypt and Italy to the success of the Robbiki Leather City Project. He explained that this project aims not only to build a modern city on international, European, and Italian levels related to technology and mechanisation but also to change the mindset and mentality of the workers in the sector. Melli pointed out that this ceremony celebrates a project that aims to change leather production from raw material to the final product in a sustainable environment with empowered workers. Ultimately, he clarified that the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation is fully committed to implementing this project in a strict timeframe to achieve its goals while working as a family with the Egyptian counterpart.
Afterwards, Dr Agostino Apolito, Managing Director of Assomac Servizi, gave a technical presentation entitled “AICS Service Contract RLC and New Technologies for the Tannery Sector—Industrial District for Leather Tanning in Italy.” Apolito emphasised the importance of creating an international brand capable of competing on the Egyptian, African, and Global levels. He explained that Egypt has huge potential and could benefit from Italian expertise in the leather industry related to technology, human resources, and industry. He highlighted that this project pays special attention to the safety of the workers, sustainability, creativity, technology and Virtual Reality. Then, Dr Roberto Vago, PIN Consortium Expert, presented that this project is aligned with the Egyptian Leather Industry Development Vision that aims at moving the leather industry from Magra El oyoun to Robbiki Leather City to improve the work conditions and final product.
At the end of the ceremony, Dr Ashraf Samuel concluded that the most important elements of an Egyptian International Leather brand are trained and aware workers and alliances created between Egyptian and Italian institutions. The ceremony guests then made on-site visits to the Leather Tanning Technology Center and Sarg Tannery.
