Tarek Kabil, minister of trade and industry, announced that Egyptian commodity exports to the Russian market increased by 35% last year, reaching a value of about $504.6m compared to $374.1m in 2016. He highlighted the great diversity of Egyptian export items to the Russian market, explaining that this diversity contributed to the enhancement of Egyptian exports to this important market. This came in a press statement based on a report prepared by the Egyptian Commercial Office in Moscow about the development of Egyptian exports to the Russian market during 2017. For his part, Egyptian Commercial Service (ECS) Head Ahmed Antar pointed out that the increase in the value of Egyptian exports to the Russian market during the last year was the result of increased vegetable and fruit exports by 39%, to reach about $375.5m and the increase of food product exports by 115%, to reach $21m. He further mentioned that household appliance exports increased by 600%, amounting to about $28.3m, while medical industry exports rose by 48%, to about $10.5m. "Egyptian exports to Russia include 35 items, mainly potatoes, oranges, engineering products, ceramics, food products, medical products, and furniture," said Nasser Hamed, head of the Egyptian Commercial Office in Moscow. He said that the ministry is seeking to boost Egyptian exports to the Russian market in a number of new sectors including ready-made clothes, chemicals, and furniture industries. In January, Kabil said that preliminary indicators for 2017 show that Egyptian exports to the Russian market will exceed $500m for the first time in the history of trade relations between the two countries, announcing that Egyptian exports to Russia rose by 32.8% to reach $464.8m from January to November 2017 compared to $350m in the same period of 2016.
