Description
The project aims at creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem promoting innovative-based processes and products within the Egyptian manufacturing sector and drives it towards more sustainable business models, production processes and governance systems. The activities will improve in particular the production systems of the textile and leather sectors by innovating their value chain, facilitating the introduction of innovative and sustainable business solutions and steering the development of new ECO-ICT products and processes, establishing open-innovative platforms between entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers and policy makers and promoting decent job opportunities.

Objectives
• Promoting the Egyptian business ecosystem’s shift to a fair and sustainable development model
• Supporting the innovative development of the SMEs ecosystem in the leather and textile sector, aiming at increasing employability and income-generating opportunities
• Strengthening the professional skills of technicians and entrepreneurs towards sustainable/digital-led industrial production processes and models
• Defining new industrial policies in terms of research development, circular economy, digitalization and quality jobs

Type of activities
• Establishment of public and private multi-stakeholder platform aiming at boosting policies for the innovation and sustainability of the Egyptian manufacturing system as well as offering new forms of decent work.
• Organization of pilot-training courses aimed at innovators, researchers and aspiring entrepreneurs operating in the textile/clothing and leather sectors and inspired by digitalization/green technology patterns.
• Development of entrepreneurial skills and start-ups in the target sectors selected by carrying out activities within industrial incubators and accelerators.
• Introduction of an e-commerce platform for the promotion and sale of textile and leather products realized by adopting eco-sustainable-oriented processes.

Results achieved
• Enhanced the collaboration between public and private actors intended to define and boost innovative policies for research, social economic development and decent work.
• Improved and refined technical and professional skills of operators, SMEs representatives and aspiring entrepreneurs in the manufacturing industry.
• Acquired new entrepreneurial skills by young innovators and makers active in the manufacturing sector.
• Installed an e-commerce platform for bolstering the delivery of textile/clothing and leather products obtained by adopting eco-sustainable-led schemes.