The Egyptian Commercial Service (ECA) has succeeded in signing contracts to export Egyptian products to the Kurdistan market worth $8m million dollars during the last three months, according to the head of the ECA, Ahmed Antar. Antar noted that the ECA also succeeded in dispatching a trade mission consisting of 10 major importers from Kurdistan region in fields of agricultural crops and food products to participate in Food Africa, which was held during the period 22-24 April in Cairo. He pointed out that the ECA has dispatched five trade missions to Egypt during the last three months that were composed of 50 Kurdish import companies and operating in various sectors that include food products and agricultural crops, furniture, leather, footwear, chemical products, and garments. "The ECA is currently working on increasing its exports of traditional and non-traditional products to various markets and to facilitate the access of Egyptian products to foreign markets within the framework of the ministry's strategy for export development," Antar added. "Furthermore, the Kurdistan region is one of the promising markets, and it represents a good opportunity for Egyptian exports. The Kurdistan market depends primarily on the import of more than 95% of its consumer needs worth up to about $20bn annually." The ECA's head said that Egyptian exports to the Kurdistan region has seen a remarkable development in recent years, where it rose from EGP 89m in 2010 (before the opening of the trade office in 2011) to about EGP 754m during 2015 and amounted to about EGP 672m in 2016. He added that the most important Egyptian exports to the region include electrical appliances—especially televisions—fans, furniture, vegetables and fruits, and medicine.
