On January 6th, 2018, H.E. Eng. Tarek Kabil, Minister of Trade and Industry of Arab Republic of Egypt accepted the interview by the China International Import Expo Bureau:

Q: First of all, thank Your Excellency very much for receiving our interview today. As a developing country, China opens actively its market of 1.3 billion population to the world by holding China International Import Expo, how do you see the effort of the Chinese government in promoting economic globalization and trade facilitation, and how Egypt will participate and benefit from it?

A: I think the initiative which China took is a great initiative. China is the biggest exporter in the world and the second importer, for China to open their market and invite countries who has a potential to export to China is a great thing. We would definitely participate in the exhibition because this is a chance to show the type of product that we can export to China in addition to having an investment forum plus business to business. The whole idea is how we can balance the trade between us and China. So it’s a great initiative from china as a major global player in the world trade.

Q: What do you think are the potential products of Egypt to be exported to China?

A: Overall, SMEs is a growing sector in Egypt. It constitutes about almost 90 percent of the Egyption economy. E-commerce is quite an advance in China. So it’s a great platform for us to use that as the feeding industry for some of the Chinese manufacturers. I think we have competitive edge for some of products that we can export to China that including building material, chemical material, and some of the textile material that we made based on Egyption cotton. So I think the platform is great. We will work on making sure that we put in the exhibition the top products so that we can have a competitive edge. 

Q: what are the supporting measures Egypt will take to encourage the Egyptian exporters, especially the SMEs to participate?

A: This is a very important exhibition for us. We have already sent the formal acceptance to participate in the exhibition. As much as china will also provide logistics and support to the exhibition, the Egyption Export Development Authority will also provide the subsidies, particularly to SMEs to participate in the exhibition. The whole idea is to invite as much as we can from the Egyption SMEs particularly who are in the product line that is important to China