Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian minister of trade and industry, Tarek Kabil, on Monday said that trade between Egypt and the European Union (EU) has leaped during the first half of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016.
Egypt’s exports to the EU rose 16.5% to $3.07 billion from $2.6 billion, Kabil added in a statement, citing a report from the Egyptian commercial office in Brussels.
On the other hand, Egypt’s imports from the EU dropped 29% to $8.15 billion from $11.5 billion, he noted.
He stressed that he will meet with the European Commission (EC) in Brussels over the coming period to discuss developing and reinforcing mutual economic relations between Egypt and the EU countries.
Ahmed Antar, chairman of the Egyptian Commercial Service Office (ECS), said that Egypt’s increased exports and decreased imports from the EU helped diminishing the trade deficit between both parties to $5.8 billion from $8.87 billion, as trade deficit plunged to 62% in H1-17 from 77% in H1-16.
The minister had previously stated that the Ministry of Trade and Industry is aiming to double Egypt's exports to $30 billion or $34 billion by 2020 from $18.5 billion last year.
