James Park, vice-president of LG Electronics, has announced his company's plans to start manufacturing washing machines in Egypt before the end of the year.
In remarks to Al-Masry Al-Youm on the sidelines of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s visit to South Korea, Park expressed the company's hope of making Egypt the center for production from which they can reach out to all of the African markets, particularly through a factory on the Ismailia desert road. The firm purchased the land for the factory four years ago and produced 250 million TVs, he said, also citing exports estimated at US$150 million.
The firm, according to Park, will manufacture washing machines in the new factory by the end of the year, also stressing the need for foreign currency.
The firm’s president will meet Sisi on Friday to tackle the issue with him, Park said, adding that they believe Sisi’s visit is a chance to inform him about their desire to expand their work in Egypt once the US dollar crisis is resolved.
Park expressed concern after the firm recently suspended its production due to difficulties in meeting production requirements.
He also indicated the company's desire to invest in Egypt. However, he said that they should be promised that required foreign currency would be available in order to be able to manufacture in Egypt. He added that they seek to import spare parts from South Korea.
The firm, according to Park, allocated US$180 million to expand work in the new Cairo factory. He said the firm own's two land plots that they could expand but not before the US dollar issue is resolved, which has caused their profits to decline.
He also discussed the increasing purchasing capacity in Egypt, while the ability to export has decreased. In addition, the surge of the US dollar against the Egyptian pound has caused them huge losses.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
