An annual report issued by the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade stated milestones of the trade sector in 2015. Among these milestones was the decision to establish an Egypt-based component of the Egypt-Kuwaiti Economic Cooperation Council, amid a larger restructuring of Egypt's export sector. With the aim of promoting bilateral trade between Egypt and other countries, the Egyptian government issued decisions in 2015 to restructure the Egyptian component of the Russian, Emirati, Spanish, Ethiopian, Indian, Brazilian, Tunisian, Kazakhstani and South African business councils. The 15 export councils oversee the trade of ready-to-wear clothing, textiles, building materials, chemical industries, furniture and fertilizer. In June of 2015, Egypt held a conference with representatives of three African blocs— The African blocs included the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)—to sign the $1.2tn Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) that merged the three blocs into a 26-nation free-trade zone and united markets worth 58% of Africa's economic activity. During 2015, the Egyptian stated conducted a study in concert with South Korea and UAE regarding a proposal to establish a centre for industry, agriculture, trade and tourism, which the three countries will participate in financing. Egypt reached an agreement with Russia to export its agriculture production of potatoes and oranges, after Russian banned the import of oranges in 2014. Egypt has also signed an agreement with Sudan to exempt customs on Egyptian products exported to Sudan. The Egyptian government has taken steps to relax the conditions that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must meet to obtain a loan from the state-owned Social Development Fund (SFD). The government increased the repayment period by one year from 5 to 6 years. The SFD also agreed to provide technical and financial assistance to SME project proposals.
