Egyptian Trade Minister Tarek Qabil is set to head first promotional mission that

would visit Kenya by the middle of next February, Head of Chemical Export

Council (CEC) stated Tuesday.

Khaled Abu El Makarem, stated that the delegation is set to encompass largest

30 Egyptian firms working in food, engineering, chemical industries as well as

building materials and pharmaceutical sectors.

The mission's visit would be organised in coordination with Egyptian Exporters

Association- Expolink and Egypt-Kenya Business Council.

On the sidelines of the visit, the mission is scheduled to inaugurate the first

Egyptian logistics zone in Kenya, the chairman noted, clarifying that the zone is

allocated for storing Egyptian goods and distributing them in Kenyan market and

neighbor markets in east Africa states.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil said that the flotation of the Egyptian

pound has helped promote the country’s exports and limit its imports, according

to a statement issued by Beltone Financial on Wednesday.

Kabil added during Beltone Financial’s “Africa’s Era, Egypt’s Moment”

conference, which is currently being held, that “the 2011 revolution impacted

sectors across the economy, with Egypt’s trade deficit rising significantly,”

the statement reads.

“This amplified Egypt’s foreign currency shortage with almost all of Egypt’s

foreign currency sources (Suez Canal, remittances, tourism, foreign direct

investments, and exports) taking a hit,” it added.

Kabil explained in the statement, that his ministry had set a strategy based on

five pillars to address the situation, focusing on industrial development, small-

and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), exports, competition, and governance.

Indeed, Egypt’s trade deficit has gone down since January 2016 by

an impressive $9bn, as imports decreased by $7bn, while exports increased by

$2bn, according to the statement.

“In terms of industrial development, Kabil noted that from 2007 to 2015, almost

9.5m sqm of industrial land were developed, while in 2016 alone, 11m sqm were

launched with the objective of rapidly growing Egypt’s industrial sector,”

the statement read.

The statement said that “in terms of Egypt’s strategy to support exports, Kabil

noted that a huge part of the focus is going towards Africa, where Egypt has

a clear edge.”

In a different context, Kabil agreed to renew anti-dumping duties for biro pens

imports from China for 12 months.