Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil announced that Egyptian exports have increased by 14% during the first four months of 2017 compared to 2016. According to the ministry's press statement issued on Monday, the value of Egyptian exports reached $7.438bn in 2017, compared to 2016 when they recorded $6.545bn. The statement showed that the imports have also decreased by 30% to $15.931bn, compared to $22.742bn in 2016, which reduced the deficit of the trade balance from $16.196bn to $8.493bn, which is a rate of approximately 48%. Minister Tarek Kabil said the reason for the positive development in both exports and imports, happened due to the implementation of many reforms to achieve the goals of improvements in exports, as well as reducing the imports in order to maintain foreign currency reserves, besides depending on local products to develop local industries, which led to more job opportunities. He continued in the statement that many sectors have witnessed hikes in exports, especially agricultural products by 4.1%, construction materials by 47%, textiles by 4.6%, food products by 3%, and fertilisers and chemical products by 34%. The statement showed that the main markets that Egyptian exports targeted in the first four months of 2017 were the EU, the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Lebanon. The Egyptian exports to the US recorded $381m compared to $370m, while imports decreased by 27% to $1bn instead of $1.279bn, the statement read. It furthermore showed that Egyptian exports to Turkey increased by 54% to $608m instead of $395m a year ago, while imports decreased by 43% to $624m compared to $1.093bn in 2016. As for Italy, Egyptian exports recorded an increase rate of 23% with $505m in 2017, compared to $438.9m in 2016, while Italian imports recorded $978m compared to $1.260bn in the same period, decreasing by 22%.
