The total value of Egyptian exports in the first 11 months of 2020 amounted to about USD22.8 billion, which is a slight decrease compared to USD23.3 billion during the same period in 2019.
Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea had previously projected for Egyptian exports to exceed USD25 billion by the end of 2020.
Gamea pointed out that despite the challenges that international trade has witnessed as a result of the pandemic and the consequent closure of factories and suspension of ports in most countries of the world, what Egyptian commodity exports have achieved represents a success story.
This was endorsed by international financial institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry has adopted an ambitious plan to double the value of merchandise exports to USD100 billion over the next few years.
It expects to do so by accessing and opening up new export markets for Egyptian products, particularly markets that are linked to Egypt through preferential agreements that allow access to about 2 billion people.
The minister referred to a number of priority sectors in export, mainly the medical and food industries.
Gamea explained that maintaining the rates of exports despite the crisis reflects the ambitious vision of the ministry and the plan it adopted to confront the crisis and deal with its repercussions.
She added that Egyptian imports witnessed a significant decline between January and November 2020, reaching about USD58.106 billion compared to an estimate of USD65.828 billion during the same period in 2019, a 12 percent drop.
The trade balance deficit recorded a significant decrease of 17 percent compared to the same period in 2019, when it recorded about USD35.306 billion compared to about USD42.464 billion, a difference of USD7.158 billion.
This confirms the success of the Ministry’s plan to rationalize imports and give the national industry a boost.
Gamea mentioned some of the sectors that achieved a rise in exports during the first 11 months, including building materials (USD5.590), medical industries with USD488 million, and food industries (USD3.155 billion).
The markets with the largest share of Egyptian exports during the period include the UAE with a value of USD2.660 billion, Saudi Arabia (USD1.520 billion), Turkey (USD1.424 billion), the US with USD1.385 billion, and Italy with USD1.113 billion.
