Egypt achieves trade surplus with UAE of $1.5B in 2017

CAIRO – 7 January 2018: Trade relations between Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is developing significantly in the current period, with the trade balance tilting in favor of Egypt to reach $1.5 billion in 2017, compared to $1.4 billion in 2016, Trade Minister Tarek Kabil said Sunday.

He said that the ministry is targeting to enhance trade relations with the UAE through facilitating the entry of Egyptian exports to the Emirati market, which in turn will help increase exports.

Egyptian exports to the UAE have increased significantly during the first half of 2017, amounting to $1.204 billion, up from $1.126 billion during the same period of 2016, marking a 7 percent increase, according to previous statements by Kabil.
Kabil added that the UAE is a big investor in the Egyptian market, investing $6.2 billion in many sectors.

This came in light of a report sent to the minister from the Egyptian commercial office in Dubai on trade relations between both countries in 2017.

Head of the Egyptian Commercial Service Ahmed Antar said that the increase in trade volume between Egypt and the UAE came on the back of the efforts of the Trade Ministry and Egypt’s commercial office that helped in eliminating obstacles standing in the way of trade activities between both states.

He added that the office has recently arranged a visit for a delegation from the Egyptian Junior Business Association (EJB) to the UAE that aimed at boosting cooperation between the EJB and the Emirati business community.

The visit came as part of the cooperation protocol that was signed in 2017 between the commercial office and the EJB, with the aim of promoting Egyptian exports and attracting foreign investment to Egypt, Antar said.

He added that the visit included reviewing investment opportunities in Egypt and a visit to business incubators and the Dubai Silicon Oasis.

Antar also said that the visit included a meeting with the organizers of Expo 2020 Dubai to discuss the expo’s available cooperation opportunities, adding that the organizers would pay a visit to Cairo in the first quarter of 2019 to discuss the possibility of the participation of Egyptian companies in one of the expo’s programs.