Good morning, wonderful people. The news cycle is finally giving us a bit of a breather, with only a few updates from aviation players and more regional diplomacy and trade cooperation.

We’re only six days away from meeting with some of you at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum, taking place at the Four Seasons at the Nile Plaza on Monday, 15 May.

We’re proud to announce that our friend Shady William, managing director of IDG is joining us for the forum. Are you? Shady William is going to be speaking on how and why industrial clusters have been a platform for exports and FDI abroad. He is joined on stage for that discussion by Nada El Ahwal, CSO of Transmar and Mohamed El Gebely, Team Leader at USAID Trade who will discuss how we can better use industrial clusters whether they are a possible route for SMEs to make an impact on an export-oriented economy.

They’re not the only ones: Among the CEOs, top execs, bankers, and development finance folks speaking at the conference are: Tarek Kamel, CEO of Nestle Egypt; Omar Elsahy, general manager of Amazon Egypt; Khaled Morsy, CEO of DB Schenker Egypt; Mark Wylie, CEO of Beyti; Mohamed Talaat Khalifa, CEO, Concrete; Hossam Sallab, CEO and vice-chairman, Sallab Group and Royal Ceramica; Abdallah Sallam, CEO of Madinet Masr; Kareem Abou Ghaly, chairman and CEO, Pasta Regina; Tarek Hosny, head of investments and projects at Fertiglobe; Helmy Ghazi, deputy CEO of HSBC Egypt; Nadia El-Tawil, investment officer at AfricInvest; Mostafa Bedair, CEO, Giza Seeds and Herbs; Hassan Massoud, associate director and head of private equity (Southern Mediterranean) at the EBRD; and Hossam Abou Moussa, partner at Apis; and Yassir Zouaoui, partner at McKinsey.

Topics and live interviews will include:

• Why exports and FDI are the way forward and what lessons have worked from around the world;
• How to attract foreign partners and figure out what they are looking for;
• What lessons can we draw from white goods, fertilizers, and garments exporters who have increased our exports;
• What are the fundamentals to creating an export and / or FDI strategy;
• What it takes to secure a place in a multinational’s supply chain.
• What are the industries of tomorrow around which we can export and bring in FDI.

For the full agenda please click here.

** Have you confirmed your attendance? Invitations have been sent out over the past few weeks. If you have yet to confirm your attendance and would still like to join us, please reply to the invitation with an RSVP.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has selected Egis for two projects related to the development of AlUla International Airport, while Emirates SkyCargo plans to double its capacity and boost its fleet by mid-2030.

HAPPENING TODAY-

DATA POINT- Doha’s Hamad International Airport saw an 18.7% y-o-y increase in aircraft movements in 1Q 2023, according to a report by state-owned Qatar News Agency. Aircraft movements rose to 112.8k and the airport handled over 540k tons of cargo during the quarter, the news agency added.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Export Potential Exhibition of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran Expo 2023) kicked off on Sunday and is running until tomorrow at the Tehran International Permanent Fairground in Tehran, Iran. The event aims to help companies develop new markets, promote their industries, export their products, and enable Iran to develop economic ties with other countries. The industries being discussed at the exhibit include food and beverage, agriculture, livestock, fisheries, mining, petrochemicals, textile and handcrafts, tourism, and medicine.

The Airport Show kicks off today and runs until this Thursday at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The event will see hundreds of experts in the aviation industry gather to discuss topics crucial to the sector.

The Jordanian-Iraqi Business and Finance Forum kicks off in Amman, Jordan on 20 June, Jordanian news agency Petra reports. The event aims to promote bilateral trade and investments and will see participation from Jordanian and Iraqi investors, businesses and government officials, in addition to international participants. The IT, tech, real estate, contracting, construction, industrial, energy, and mining sectors will be the focus of the forum.

The Leaders in Logistics KSA Summit will be held in Riyadh on 5 September. The summit will dive into the kingdom’s logistics-focused national initiatives, as well as how the supply chain and logistics industries can help the kingdom achieve its sustainability targets. Head of Commercial and Growth at AHOY Adel Mazi and Aramex Regional Director Ibrahim Ezmigna, are among those scheduled to speak at the summit.

Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming events and news triggers.