The Saudi Cities Authority (MODON) has invited the Egyptian-Swiss Pasta and Milling Group to invest in the Kingdom's largest food industry cluster in Jeddah, as part of a broader effort to attract Egyptian expertise and investment to the Saudi market. Ali Al-Omari, Deputy Executive Director of Business Development at MODON, highlighted the Egyptian-Swiss Group's expertise in pasta and milling during a visit to the company's factories. Al-Omari encouraged the group to invest in Saudi Arabia, Ahmed El-Sebai, General Manager of the Egyptian-Swiss Group, revealed that the company had doubled its pasta exports to Saudi Arabia over the past two years. He emphasised the group's commitment to participating in the Saudi Food Exhibition for two consecutive years, as part of its strategy to increase exports to the Kingdom. El-Sebai noted that recent legislative changes in Saudi investment laws are expected to attract investments across various sectors, offering benefits to the food industry by reducing costs, streamlining procedures, and enhancing product competitiveness in exports. Saudi Arabia was the second-largest importer of Egyptian processed foods in 2023, with a value reaching $400m, accounting for 8% of the sector's total exports of $5.1bn. In 2023, there were approximately 426 Egyptian companies exporting processed foods to Saudi Arabia, including 66 companies with exports exceeding $1m and 179 companies with exports exceeding $100,000. The Egyptian-Swiss Group, founded in 1995, initially engaged in flour trading following the deregulation of flour prices. The company then expanded into manufacturing by establishing a flour mill in Assiut, followed by another mill in Borg El Arab. The group further diversified into pasta production with a plant in 10th of Ramadan, achieving a monthly production capacity of 7,500 tonnes. Subsequently, they set up a tomato paste factory to leverage their pasta distribution network, with a production capacity of 3,500 tonnes per month. They also added a large flour mill with dual production lines, reaching a milling capacity of 1,500 tonnes per day, and own wheat silos with a storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes.
