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Trade Minister meets exporters to discuss implications of Coronavirus outbreak Government prepares urgent incentives to maintain production, export growth
Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea stressed the government's keenness to present urgent measures aimed at stimulating economy and mitigating negative effects of the Coronavirus outbreak on the performance of economy in all sectors, especially in terms of production and export. Gamea said these measures aim to maintain productivity rates to meet the increasing demand for local products, whether in Egypt or foreign markets, as well as support exports, especially for European countries, which are currently experiencing difficult conditions due to the closure of many factories. This represents a great opportunity to increase Egyptian exports to these areas. During a series of intensive meetings held with representatives of different export sectors in Egypt, she said the ministry started to implement an urgent action plan to cushion the effects of this global crisis on the industry and trade sectors. Gamea elaborated that her ministry will communicate with all factories to ensure the availability of raw materials, especially imported ones to ensure non-stop production. Moreover, the trade ministry will follow up on the regularity of supply chains. The minister further instructed the Egyptian Commercial Service and its offices abroad to increase their communication between Egyptian producers and exporters and their counterparts abroad especially in light of the difficulty of travel and movement due to flight suspension in many countries around the world. Heads of export councils called for setting an exceptional programme to stimulate exports in the next three months and reopening land freight lines, especially with African countries. They also called on the Ministry of Finance to quickly reimburse dues of exporting companies with the Export Development Fund (EDF). Accordingly, they suggested obtaining their export subsidy dues from the EDF's budget for the current fiscal year 2019/20, besides, postponing the tax payments for a specific period. They also called on Egypt Air to decrease shipping prices, especially in light of the company's decision to double prices recently, especially for the Arab countries.
