Opening Remarks

Mr. M. Gamal Moharam, AmCham President and Chairman, MGM Financial & Banking Consultants Co.

Topic: “Identity Theft, Consumer and Brand Fraud: You are Targeted!”

Good morning. I would like to welcome you to today's conference on "Identity Theft, Consumer and Brand Fraud: You Are Targeted," organized by the Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) in coordination with the Trade Related Assistance Center (TRAC) at the American Chamber of Commerce.

It gives me great pleasure to open this event today; given the importance of the issues surrounding Consumer Protection to the Chamber and its members. In order to serve its members best, the Chamber feels very strongly that its cooperation with the Authority is part and parcel of its responsibility as in today’s open economy the interests of business are inextricably linked to the interests of consumers. On its part, AmCham/TRAC has given significant attention -- since the formation of the CPA in August 2006 -- to collaborating with the Authority and promoting its initiatives and activities.

In AmCham we are deeply convinced that consumer protection is mutually beneficial to businesses and consumers alike. To the extent that the Consumer Protection Authority is tasked with protecting the consumer through educating and increasing his or her awareness, the business community is in dire need of a better informed consumer to protect its own interests. Counterfeiting and other deceptive practices, if not detected properly by the consumers, will not only harm consumers but undermine any business success. Preserving the integrity of a brand and ensuring the safety of a product not only secures the health and safety of individual consumers, but also protects companies' reputations and status by making certain that dangerous counterfeits do not change customer perceptions of the genuine product.

The Chamber recognizes that the CPA is a vital tool in our open economy and recognizes its capacity to police the market and to equip consumers to act as faithful policemen for their own benefit and the benefit of business. As said, the gains are shared between the consumers and businesses, therefore AmCham and the Consumer Protection Authority have a mutual interest to work together and support one another in an open and free economy where we face new problems that necessitate unique tools and different partnerships.
As Egypt becomes increasingly connected to the global community and as its information communication technology (ICT) capabilities continue to expand, we become at once stronger and more vulnerable. While our economy thrives as a result of the freer exchange of goods and services, we are also exposed to new and unseen threats. Identity theft, consumer fraud and brand falsification are very real and potentially very dangerous: suspicious emails from personal contacts making odd requests, ostensibly legitimate phone enquiries for your personal information; branded pharmaceuticals containing no active ingredients; purchasing and banking transactions in the cyber world—we are all at risk.
At this stage, it is critical to raise awareness in Egypt concerning the dangers associated with personal data theft and fraud, so that individuals and companies can take the necessary precautions to enjoy the benefits of open markets and technological advancement and avoid the pitfalls. Today we have the pleasure to learn from the experiences of renowned experts from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). From their first-hand knowledge we can gain a greater understanding of how these crimes are orchestrated, why, and what Egypt can do to overcome these breaches and to prevent their proliferation in the Egyptian market.
I would like to now invite Mr. Saeed El Alfi, Chairman of the Consumer Protection Agency, to the podium.
Thank you

Mr. Saeed El Alfi, Chairman, the Consumer Protection Agency

Topic: “Identity Theft, Consumer and Brand Fraud: You are Targeted!”

Since last year, the CPA, the AmCham and US Federal Trade Commission have joined efforts to exchange experiences in best practices in order to prevent consumer fraud and enhance fair competition in Egypt. For example, last June, we arranged the first national conference on how to protect consumers from deceptive advertising.

As you all know, the main mandate of the CPA is to protect the interests of the consumers, because we are all consumers. However, this does not mean that we are only protecting consumers from unethical business practices, but that we are all protecting our markets and societies in order to enhance our social and economic prosperity. As the consumer is the fuel of economic prosperity, it is vital that the CPA protects the consumer and makes them aware of their rights and responsibilities. In order to do this we are working on three main strategies: complaints handling, market surveillance and consumer education. I would like to emphasize the third strategy. We have launched numerous seminars and workshops to educate consumers about their rights and responsibilities. The CPA has recently arranged with the USAID support a consumer protection exhibition during the celebration of Consumer Rights Day in March 2009. We also participated and organized many workshops in cooperation with universities, scouts unions and other groups. We issued two newsletters so far, and supported some consumer NGOs - which are our main target to support in producing their own campaigns in schools to educate students and teachers about internet safety and computer security. In addition, we successfully agreed with the MOE to integrate consumer protection topics in curriculums of different education levels starting in 2010 and 2011. It is very important to emphasize that without the cooperation and continuous unconditional support of Minister Rashid, we could not have managed to actively serve consumers and protect their rights. The CPA also recognizes the contribution of other ministries, such as the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of International Cooperation, the Ministry of Communication, Information and Technology and the Ministry of Health for their contributions, cooperation and support that they have played in the important role in where we stand today.

Another aspect of fraud is counterfeiting and brand fraud which is one of the most widespread crimes. It is important to note that counterfeited products accounts for 5-7% of the world trade. We are talking about $650 billion a year, it is a major industry. This is a deep concern to the CPA as it represents one of the worst forms of consumer fraud.

I am confident that this conference will be an effective opportunity to address how to prevent, detect and resolve the proliferation of consumer fraud and identity theft in the Egyptian market. Of course, this and other such conferences are steps forward to protect consumer interest and our economy.