Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli on Wednesday witnessed, at the government headquarters in the New Administrative Capital, the signing of two cooperation protocols between national data-issuing entities to audit and unify figures for Egyptian exports and imports.
The aim is to ensure consistency, regulate and improve the quality of official data, and keep pace with international developments in calculating macroeconomic indicators.
The two protocols are the result of the work of the committee formed by Prime Ministerial Decree No. (1887) of 2023, tasked with unifying Egyptian export data, as well as the committee for unifying Egyptian import data formed by Prime Ministerial Decree No. (3610) of 2024. Both committees are chaired by the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, with membership from the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade represented by the General Organization for Export and Import Control; the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; the Central Bank of Egypt; the Ministry of Finance represented by the Customs Authority; and CAPMAS as rapporteur of both committees.
Madbouly stated that signing these two protocols comes within the framework of a strategic shift toward tradable sectors with high added value, expanding the national export base, enhancing confidence in exports, and facilitating access to global markets, in light of the structural reforms currently being implemented to maximize the added value of products and services related to foreign trade.
The Prime Minister considered that building a unified information base for exports and imports contributes to enhancing macroeconomic stability through improved policy predictability and the creation of a more dynamic and resilient economy, helping to achieve the targeted growth rate, in addition to boosting investor confidence and increasing foreign currency inflows.
For her part, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat explained that the two protocols come within the framework of efforts to adhere to the unified statistical classification of export and import data issued by various international bodies. This includes exported goods, imported goods through border outlets, and re-exported goods, with the aim of providing accurate and integrated statistical information and data to support decision-making by coordinating efforts among the various government entities issuing foreign trade data and subjecting them to standardized auditing processes that ensure data integrity, transparency, and reliability.
The Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation emphasized that the importance of the protocols stems from their alignment with the targets of the national narrative for economic development and Egypt Vision 2030 regarding data production and availability. She stressed the need to establish a technical and regulatory environment that ensures the unification and periodic auditing of data standards, guaranteeing the sustainability and protection of data quality and the ease of its flow among different entities through an integrated electronic system linking all concerned bodies, supporting informed decision-making and ensuring the accuracy of outputs that underpin the decision-making process.
