Saeed Abdallah, head of the trade agreements sector at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, announced on Friday that the trade exchange between Egypt and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries recorded $1.287bn in 2017. The EFTA is a regional trade organisation and free-trade area consisting of four European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Abdallah added that the trade exchange figures do not reflect the huge opportunities available for cooperation between the two sides, explaining that Egyptian exports to EFTA countries represent $485m, while exports of EFTA countries to Egypt reached $800m. This came on the sidelines of a seminar that was held at the Ministry of Trade and Industry on ways to enhance trade between Egypt and EFTA countries. Abdallah said that Egyptian exports to EFTA countries are mostly concentrated in raw materials, especially gold, which represents the largest proportion of Egyptian exports to EFTA countries, representing 85% of Egyptian exports to Switzerland, followed by textile products like yarn, cotton, textiles, and carpets. On the other hand, he explained that Egyptian imports gold plated with platinum, medicines, preserved fish, equipment, concentrated milk, and watches from EFTA countries. Abdallah stressed on the importance of enhancing trade and investment cooperation between Egypt and EFTA countries during the coming period.
