Egypt’s food industry sector is one of the most important strategic productive sectors in the national economy, as it creates thousands of direct and indirect jobs, meets the local market needs, and exports to regional and global markets.

Minister of Trade and Industry, Ahmed Samir, said that the sector contributes a large share to the volume of Egyptian exports, which reached $2.635bn in the first seven months of this year, compared to $2.384bn in the same period last year, an increase of 10.5%.

Samir made these remarks during a roundtable with food industry companies, where he discussed the opportunities and challenges facing the sector, as well as the ways to increase investments and exports. The roundtable was attended by heads and representatives of Egyptian and international companies and representatives of the Chamber of Food Industries.

Samir said that the roundtable aimed to create a dialogue platform between the ministry and the sector representatives to find out the proposed solutions to overcome the challenges, such as the lack of production inputs and foreign currency due to the economic repercussions of successive global crises.

He also said that the roundtable aimed to discuss increasing investments and exports with international companies specialized in food industries, as Egypt is the regional manufacturing hub for most companies operating in this sector.

Samir explained that the ministry has identified 152 investment opportunities in the industrial sector, including opportunities for products and production inputs in the food, pharmaceutical, engineering, and chemical sectors. He said that the ministry is working to achieve the state’s goals of localizing the production inputs industry.

Samir added that the food industry sector in Egypt has great potential and capabilities that qualify it to compete in the Egyptian and foreign markets, as Egypt has a system of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements with many countries and international economic blocs that allow Egyptian products to enter the world markets.

He further added that the local legislative environment stimulates and boosts investments in various economic sectors, especially in the food industry sector. He also mentioned that Egypt has appropriate infrastructure and skilled technical labor, as well as a good reputation for its products in international markets.

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