SWOT Analysis Applied to the Development of Furniture Industry in Damietta.

After Damietta occupied a special position in the furniture industry inside and outside Egypt, Damietta is considered one of the pillars of the economy in Egypt, the volume of furniture investments exceeded 5.3 billion pounds, the production of furniture in Egypt reached 3 billion dollar with worth of export 296million dollar, this according to IMC data until the end of August 2010. Damietta produces about two-thirds of the Egyptian production of furniture , where the manufactured furniture products in Damietta invaded global markets and were placed in the export map, The limited research problem in the absence of SWOT Analysis for the furniture industry in Damietta, and research methodology is based on the descriptive analytical method, the research aims to conduct a study to analyze the SWOT Analysis for the furniture industry in Damietta, that despite the importance of Damietta as a city made for furniture, but it does not have a Damietta study serve the marketing of their products locally and globally, and the first steps of this study is to do SWOT Analysis. The SWOT Analysis is a tool that will pave the way towards continuous improvement and development, also help to assess the position more accurately of the furniture industry in Damietta, according to this the importance of SWOT Analysis is to determine the current status of the industry and the analysis of internal and external business environment, and to know points of strength of the promotion and to stand on points of weakness and face potential challenges in addition to seizing the opportunities in order to achieve competition internally and externally and to increase export capacity to international markets which is not less important upon meeting local market needs, as well as maintaining the possibilities of craftsman proficiency in order to pace with technological evolution.
Damietta has some advantages that reinforce furniture industry and in terms of expertise, human trained staff and excellent location which help in access to global markets at timetable record, and lower shipping costs. Perhaps the most important of these advantages is to provide skilled labor that characterized by love of work , realize its value , respecting it , seriousness, and low cost compared to the global markets and to be cheaper than European countries including up to 13 times .
Furniture industry in Damietta faces many difficulties such as timber importing , monopoly of business men for ores and the lack of attention to quality standards according to international standards, and the use of paints ores not conform to international standards, and the adoption of the furniture industry on individual efforts and lack of experience in the furniture manufacturers in Damietta for requirements of global market which weakens the competitiveness of the domestic product in global markets.
Damietta has many opportunities such as opening new overseas markets, but this requires a marketing research and study of the approbations and habits of consumers in these markets , and also the establishment of specialized companies in the field of marketing furniture for the concentration of factories and workshops on production and leave the marketing task for specialists.
In recent times there were changes that took place on the global market, such as the invasion of Chinese furniture products with low price. Thus weakening the control of Damietta on the furniture sector in the domestic market, it also increased the difficulty of global competition, this matter requires taking the necessary actions by the state that would support domestic product internally and externally in front of the imported product. There are threats that face furniture industry in Damietta which is the increasing rise in the prices of raw materials, political and economical conditions of the country.
Applying SWOT Analysis of the furniture industry in Damietta, analyze and diagnose the reality through a statement of resources, opportunities, abilities and skills, that is owned by the province and can be exploited, and weaknesses and threats can be worked upon to resolve them and be minimized for the advancement of the industry, helping to make decisions on a rational basis without relying on intuition. This is to be considered the beginning to develop a strategic plans and marketing studies that serve the furniture industry in Damietta, this could contribute to increase the competitive abilities of Damietta in global markets.