Egypt's agricultural exports rise 11.6 pct in first 10 months of 2017

Newspaper Title: http://english.ahram.org.eg

Newspaper Number:

Friday - 8 December 2017

Egypt’s agricultural exports rose 11.6 percent during the first 10 months of 2017, climbing to 4.8 million tonnes as of November compared to 4.3 million in the same period last year, Agriculture Minister Abdel-Moneim Al-Banna said on Friday.

Al-Banna attributed the 500,000-tonne increase to measures taken by the ministry to improve the quality of Egyptian crops, which he said has led to creating new markets in China, Canada, Taiwan, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Mauritius.

The surge is expected boost investments in horticultural crops, including food processing, sorting, packaging and drying, in turn creating new job opportunities and enhancing incomes in rural areas, the minister added.

Demand for Egypt’s agricultural crops has grown since the country floated its currency in November 2016 as part of a broad economic reform program, allowing the pound to lose half of its value.