The Minister of Investment issues a decision appointing Alaa El-Baily as Chairman of the Egyptian General Authority for Exhibitions and Conferences
In line with the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade's ongoing vision to enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of exhibitions and conferences as a mechanism to support and promote Egyptian exports to foreign markets, Dr. Mohamed Farid, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, issued Ministerial Decree No. (201) of 2026, appointing Commercial Minister Plenipotentiary Alaa El-Baily as Chairman of the Egyptian General Authority for Exhibitions and Conferences, succeeding Commercial Minister Plenipotentiary Essam El-Naggar, who was appointed head of the Egyptian Trade Office in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
Dr. Mohamed Farid, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, held a meeting with the new Chairman of the Authority, Commercial Minister Plenipotentiary Alaa El-Baily, and the outgoing Chairman, Commercial Minister Plenipotentiary Essam El-Naggar, to thank the former Chairman and ensure a smooth handover of the Authority's responsibilities. This process guarantees the continuity of the Authority's work in fulfilling its role as a key support and catalyst for the investment and foreign trade system. The Minister urged the new Chairman to work on enhancing the efficiency and competitiveness of the Authority and its services to enable it to play a more effective role in promoting Egyptian products both domestically and internationally.
The Minister urged the new management of the Authority to expedite the development and implementation of an action plan aimed at enhancing Egypt's participation in international exhibitions according to the latest global standards, expanding into target markets, and strengthening partnerships with the business community. This, he emphasized, would contribute to increasing exports, attracting foreign investment, and supporting the state's objectives for achieving sustainable economic growth and enhancing the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy.
El-Baily possesses over 25 years of professional experience in the fields of commercial diplomacy, international business development, investment attraction, and export development. He recently headed the investment promotion portfolio at the Trade Representation Authority within the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade. He has also held several diplomatic and economic positions both within Egypt and abroad, including Commercial Consul of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Canada and Commercial and Economic Advisor at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, in addition to several international professional certifications specializing in commercial diplomacy, international economics, and investment. He speaks Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.
In the same context, Minister Plenipotentiary Essam El-Naggar, the former head of the Exhibitions and Conferences Authority, will assume the presidency of the Egyptian Trade Office in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan. He brings diverse experiences, having obtained a Bachelor of Economics and Political Science from Cairo University in 1989, and a fellowship from the Kennedy School of Government Leaders at Harvard University in 2007. El-Naggar has held a number of positions, including Advisor to the Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2011, and Advisor to the Minister of Trade and Industry from 2016 to 2019, before moving to work in the Commercial Representation Authority and assuming a number of diplomatic positions in Egyptian embassies in Morocco, South Africa and Poland, until he was assigned to head the Egyptian Trade Office in Côte d'Ivoire.