Investments in food industries hit 85% increase

"The Egyptian production of food industries has increased by 80 percent, while the volume of investments in this sector has surged by 85 percent," said Minister of Industry Ali Al Saeedi.

Some 4,872 installations, operating in the field of food industries, have contributed to providing 219,000 new jobs with annual wages hitting L.E. one billion, he added, attributing this surge to the facilities provided by the government for Egyptian, Arab and foreign investors.

This came during the Minister's speech before a conference on "Trade Finance for Exportation," organized by the Businessmen Association for Agricultural Production and Processing, which was attended by a large number of experts and investors.

Saeedi said the government encourages the development of exports, especially Egypt's products of foodstuff which managed to penetrate a number of European and US markets.

The State is taking great interest in issues pertaining to improving quality, preserving the environment and applying up-to-date ways for increasing production so as to invigorate the national economy, the Minister added.

Food industries constitute an important axis for bolstering the Egyptian exports in the external markets, Saeedi said, calling on investors to increase their investments in the realms of setting up comprehensive industrial agricultural units, as well as ventures related to food manufacturing such as packing, wrapping and transportation.

On the other hand, Association Chairman Samir Al-Naggar said that the volume of Egypt's exports of agricultural commodities have increased by 32 percent, compared with last year, thanks to the government's efforts in this regard.