The Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles Company (MCV) is set to export 150 double deckers this year, Chairman Karim Ghabbour said, adding that the firm also plans to enter the Philippines market with an export order of 60 buses in August, Al Mal reported on Monday. The move is part of MCV’s plan to export around 1,100 buses in total in 2016 worth EGP 1.5 bn, with the firm signing an agreement earlier this year to export 60 hybrid double deckers to England. Ghabbour couldn’t comment on the government’s automotive directive, but his views on the industry as a whole is that local assemblers do not benefit the industry as the local component ratio does not exceed 20%. He reckons the government should instead try to attract multinational carmakers into directly assembling in Egypt themselves without an intermediary agent, as this will increase exports to neighboring countries. Last we heard, an amended draft of the automotive directive would provide domestic assemblers with tax and other incentives to go further up the value chain into manufacturing, was being reviewed by the cabinet.