CAIRO: The Egyptian trade ministry is looking to increase the country's food exports. According to a report in a local daily newspaper, the country's Food Export Council said that Egypt is targeting 20 billion Egyptian pounds in food exports by 2013, in a move to buttress what has become a stalled import-export sector. “Egypt has promising prospects for increasing food exports, which reached 10.8 billion pounds in 2009, a 10 percent increase over the previous year,” Monday's paper quoted Hani Berzi as saying. Berzi made the comments at a conference in Dubai on Sunday. The newspaper added that dairy products were at the top of the list of Egyptian food exports, currently at 1.9 billion pounds in value. “The food industries sector has drawn up a plan to reach 20 billion pounds in exports by 2013. State support and expansion of the agricultural land dedicated to food production will allow this goal to be reached,” al-Ahram quoted Berzi as saying. It comes as Egypt continues to push for greater exports from the country. In early February, Egypt's trade minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid told the state news agency MENA that Egypt aims to boost its overall exports to 200 billion Egyptian pounds within five years as an attempt to boost local agriculture and industry. He said the move would create more jobs. The Agriculture Ministry is also currently looking into plans to offer land for agro-business projects to Egyptian and foreign investors. BM
