Egypt’s agricultural exports hit fresh record high: Fitch Solutions

CAIRO – The agriculture sector is one of the target sectors to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI), according to Fitch Solutions.

The Egyptian government is taking serious steps to curb inflation, increase local production and exports, reduce reliance on imports, and bolster both foreign investment and foreign exchange reserves, it added on its official website.

This came in a repot compiled by the Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC), during which it tackled international reports which cast a spot light on Egypt’s affairs.

As per the report, Egypt’s agricultural exports exceeded 6.3 million tons in 2022, making a fresh record high, with an increase of more than 624,000 tons from 2021, according to a statement of Egypt’s Agriculture and Reclamation Ministry on December 31 2022.

In 2022, Egypt opened 16 new markets for its agricultural products to help raise exports.

The report also shed light on the existence of various investment opportunities in the agriculture sector, topped by the land reclamation projects, including the New Delta project, which is located in an area of one million acres.

At the current period, great attention will be paid to domestic production with the government looking at alternative markets to source key commodities and promote localisation of manufacturing.

Nevertheless, encouraging foreign investment would continue to be an important tool in Egypt’s efforts to promote growth, according to the report.

The government is still committed to promoting local agriculture production, the report said, noting that investment in this sector is expected to increase during FY 2022/2023.

The government also plan to promote local food production as Covid-19 showed that global food systems can become vulnerable, said the report.

The report, meanwhile, said that the government intends to increase local food and agriculture production by 11% on an annual basis.

The area allocated to wheat will increase by 200,000 feddans, while the area allocated to oilseeds will hike by 220,000 feddans, added the report.

The government is also exerting painstaking efforts to promote the production of local sugar, concluded the report.