Egypt achieves trade surplus with Tunisia of $317M in 2017

CAIRO – 17 February 2018: Egypt achieved a surplus of $317 million with Tunisia in 2017, compared with $123 million in 2016, with an increase of 157.7 percent, Trade Minister Tarek Kabil said Saturday.

Egypt’s non-petroleum exports to Tunisia increased by 40.7 percent in 2017, reaching $187.2 million compared to $133 million in 2016, he added.

Kabil said that the significant rise in exports comes on the back of an increase in the competitiveness of Egyptian products in the Tunisian market and to the trade agreements between both countries, which facilitate trade flow.

Head of the Egyptian Commercial Service Ahmed Antar said that the rise in exports comes in light of the efforts of the commercial office in Tunisia.

Antar said that exports to Tunisia in 2017 included iron and steel, food products, cotton, textiles, appliances and machinery, among others.

By the end of 2014, Tunisian investments in Egypt reached some $35 million in the fields of petroleum services, tourism, food industries, land reclamation, transport, cars spare parts and light industries, while the Egyptian investments in Tunisia reached $2.2 million.

Tunisia is ranked 54th among the countries investing in Egypt, according to Egypt’s State Information Service.

The two countries signed several trade agreements, including the Agadir Agreement for the Establishment of a Free Trade Zone between the Arabic Mediterranean Nations that was signed in Morocco in 2004, with the aim of establishing a free trade area between Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco.

They are also parties to the Pan-Arab Free Trade Area, which came into effect on January 1, 2005.