In a move to boost Egyptian exports, Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Investment Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour issued decisions on Friday to restructure 16 export councils and establish a "non-traditional" export council. The non-traditional export council will mainly help small exporters of the pre-existing 11 export councils in the fields of agricultural crops, ready-made garments, food industries, cement and building materials, engineering and leather, a statement from the ministry showed. Abdel Nour said that the new export council is to act as a regulatory framework for small exporters and a platform to address their problems. With regard to restructuring several export councils, Abdel Nour said the changes aim to enhance their performance and increase exports in the coming period. The restructure followed the failure of a number of exporters to meet their targets, the minster added. The restructured councils include food industries, agricultural corps, textile, home textiles, chemical industries and building materials. In September, Abdel Nour issued a decision to restructure the Egyptian side of the joint business councils with the US, Italy and France in order to "meet the needs of the current stage and the economic plans which the government is implementing". Egyptian non-petroleum exports increased 11% in 2013 to register EGP 147bn, up from EGP 132.7bn in 2012, representing 101% of the country's target to double exports to EGP145bn in 2013. Abdel Nour pointed out that 1,392 new exporters have entered the market this year, achieving EGP 3.6bn worth of exports from the total value in 2013, adding that his ministry is targeting to increase exports to EGP 160bn by the end of 2014. Official figures from the ministry highlighted that the Arab market topped the list of the export destinations, as the value of exports to the region reached EGP 61.4bn in 2013 compared to EGP 53.6bn in 2012. Meanwhile, exports to European Union countries came in at EGP 40.1bn, an increase from EGP 33.1bn in the preceding year. In the first 11 months of 2013, Saudi Arabia ranked as the primary outlet for Egypt's exports, registering EGP 12.8bn compared to 10.8bn in the same period in 2012. Turkey's and Italy's imports from Egypt have also grown in 2013.
