Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil said that the inter-trade between Egypt and Russia had witnessed a tangible improvement for the first time since 2014.
Egyptian exports to the country during the first half (H1) of 2017 amounted to about $360m compared to $286m, meaning that Egyptian exports to Russia jumped 26% after a decline ranging between 16 and 25% during the past two years.
Kabil attributed this significant improvement in the volume of exports to the intensive promotional efforts carried out by the ministry and its success in lifting the ban on agricultural exports and Egyptian potatoes, as well as solving all problems that Egyptian exporters faced.
A report was sent by the Russian trade office to Kabil, in which was outlined the indicators of the performance of foreign trade with Russia during the H1 2017. The report showed that Egyptian vegetables and fresh fruit exports witnessed a significant increase, reaching about $303.8m during H1 2017 compared to 236.2m during the same period in 2016—an increase of 28.6%.
Egyptian exports of agricultural crops also increased 28.8%. Fresh strawberries increased by 43.7%, fresh potatoes 159.5% and onions 29.8%.