Establishing Egyptian Regional Distribution Centres in Comesa : Some Empirical Evidence from the Egyptian Exporters' Perspectives

The role of supply chains has been significant in strengthening the competitiveness of international trade among countries. Regional Distribution Centres (RDCs) are among the remarkable drivers of any international trade supply chains. The Egyptian exports face a severe competition in the international market which have lead the Egyptian government to join regional trade blocs such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) for the aim of establishing exports channels to new markets. Therefore, applying the concept of RDCs was examined to enhance the performance of Egyptian exports which are facing a high competition in the EU, US, and Asian markets. Thus, the purpose of this research is to study the associated aspects to this area of interest based on a survey which has targeted the Egyptian exporters who are directly dealing with the COMESA to cover several issues regarding the trade between Egypt and COMESA. Moreover, this survey has also included the analysis of the reasons that make the COMESA prefer other international products rather than the Egyptian products, and the attitudes towards the proposed selection of Egypt’s RDCs in COMESA. In addition, this survey is also identifying the main features of the Egyptian exports compared with the foreign exports in COMESA and the recommended action to be taken towards the establishment of the Egyptian RDCs in COMESA