Last year was a tough year for Egypt. An ongoing shortage of foreign currency and weak consumer purchasing power in the wake of high inflation and weak economic conditions in 2015 exposed local businesses to unprecedented challenges. Amid all this, Raya nonetheless registered outstanding achievements by responding proactively to the situation. With the commitment of our talented team, we continued to forge ahead successfully in 2015, determined to deliver premium value to our customers.

Today, Raya Holding has a deep and diverse portfolio, with more than 7,500 employees working in 10 different lines of businesses. With our longstanding reputation for delivering unparalleled customer service, Raya Call Center opened two brand new facilities, confident that they will hold to the same uncompromising standards as their predecessors. Strategically located in Warsaw, Poland and Dubai, UAE, the new call centers are in line with Raya Call Center’s long-term strategy of becoming a multinational company. With more that 75 percent of sales from firms outside of Egypt, Raya Call Center is now competing on the global as well as the local level. We have been able to weather the slow economy thanks to our diverse lines of businesses. Lowering expenses has also been a key part of our strategy of staying strong in these difficult times. Raya IT still managed to achieve exceptional results; we completed the Galleria 40 infrastructure and improved efficiency at our Bariq factory. Also in 2015 we launched our subsidiary, Aman, which will address the rapidly growing sector of electronic payments. Exciting expansion plans are in store for Aman in 2016.

A business that’s not growing is a dead one

As we strive to keep growing in the coming years, Raya Holding will seek to invest in businesses that don’t depend on having working capital in foreign currency. Seeking new global opportunities and growing our exports will be our main objective in 2017. In fact, taking advantage of the falling pound by building exports will be our focus over the next five years; our objective is to turn Raya Group into a multinational company with a minimum of half our revenues coming from international operations.

The number one element of better business performance is people—we depend on our employees to seek truly creative ideas every day, in every single one of our business lines. We must keep looking for new ways to expand, because “A business that’s not growing is a dead one.” – Medhat Khalil, Chairman & CEO. Raya wants everyone’s contributions, from assistants to senior managers, recognizing that the best talent shines by coming up with resourceful solutions in difficult times. Growth goes hand in hand with accomplishments, so we are looking to get better as well as bigger every year.