In the light of the upcoming official meeting between Egypt and the UAE, the Minister of Trade of Egypt, Tarek Kabil, has confirmed that the bilateral relations are ”close and strategic”, benefiting both countries alike. The President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, accompanied by other government officials is heading to the UAE to review the areas of common interests and discuss the relations between Cairo and Abu Dhabi.
According to the data by the Ministry of Trade, the Egyptian export to the UAE has marked a significant growth during the first half of the year, reaching USD 1.204 billion, 7% up from the same period last year. In addition to that, the trade surplus in favor of Egypt was USD 735 million, compared to USD 685 million in 2016.
The Minister said the UAE has not hesitated to support the Egyptian economy during the last phase, pointing out that the UAE’s support was reflected in the form of a large number of development projects in the basic economic sectors.
The numbers have also shown that the Egyptian exports in 2016 exceeded the record of USD 2 billion for the first time. The Egyptian imports from the UAE declined by 25%to reach USD 908 million in 2016, down from USD 1.218 billion in 2015. Cairo mainly exported electrical appliances, fruits, vegetables, pharmaceuticals, food, and more. According to the trade minister, the significant increase was due mainly to two facts – the continuous effort of the government to promote local production and its high quality, that makes it highly competitive in the UAE markets.
Kabil also highlighted that the UAE was a leading investor in the Egyptian market, with investments valued at USD 6.2 billion in 868 projects in diverse fields – from telecommunications to tourism, and banking. The Minister also announced one of the latest joint initiatives of Cairo and Abu Dhabi – producing of self-destroying syringes and a real estate project with 30,000 units.