China ready to cooperate with Egypt in cultivating rice in desert: Ambassador

CAIRO – 21 February 2023: China is ready to cooperate with Egypt in the cultivation of Chinese rice in the desert, announced Chinese ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang in a meeting with members of the Egyptian Businessmen Association in Cairo on Monday.

He added that this proposal was discussed with Egyptian Minister of Agriculture Al Sayyed Al Qusseir several days ago.

After being a rice exporter, Egypt turned to be an importer to meet the people’s needs amid the monopoly practiced by merchants. The Ministry of Supply announced that it would offer a tender for rice importation to secure strategic storage.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) declared in 2021 that Egypt's production of rice amounted to 4.8 million tons per annum, and that constitutes 79 percent of its total consumption (on and off ration cards). The average share per capita is now 39 kilograms per annum.

That is less than the figures of 2020, where CAPMAS indicated that self-sufficiency of rice reached 98.3 percent, with an average share per capita hitting 29.6 kg compared to 26.7 kg in 2019, with an increase of 10.9 percent. Normally, the rice harvest season begins in July.