Sherif Farouk, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, met Monday with Clémence Vidal de La Blache, Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) office in Egypt, and Mohamed Ashmawy, AFD's Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food Security Program Manager. The meeting focused on discussing ways to enhance cooperation. The Minister also reviewed the status of ongoing projects being implemented in collaboration with AFD, including the construction of a wholesale market in Ismailia, a project between the Internal Trade Development Authority and AFD. Additionally, they discussed the project to increase the storage capacity of six silos by a total of 420,000 tonnes, a joint effort between the Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage and AFD.
Supply Minister, AFD review progress of joint projects
During the meeting, Minister Farouk emphasized the importance of developing cooperation with international institutions to advance domestic trade and ensure food security. He highlighted the fruitful collaboration with the French Development Agency in fields such as domestic trade, silo construction, and expanding storage capacities. Farouk stressed the need to strengthen partnerships and explore new avenues for cooperation with AFD and other institutions involved in trade development, especially in promoting private-sector participation. Clémence Vidal de La Blache praised the strong cooperation between the Egyptian government and AFD across various sectors. She expressed her eagerness to enhance this partnership with the ministry and its affiliates in areas such as internal trade, food security, strategic silo and warehouse projects, logistics zones, and increasing storage capacities to build a large strategic reserve of goods. The meeting was attended by Walid Abu Al-Magd, Deputy Minister of Supply; Ahmed Kamal, Assistant to the Minister and Ministry Spokesperson; Heba El-Sayed, Acting Head of the Internal Trade Development Authority; Diaa El-Din Askar, General Manager of International Relations and Agreement; Ashraf Sadeq, Managing Director and CEO of the Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage; and Sameh Helal, Head of the Engineering Sector at the Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage.
