New strategy to increase Egypt's food exports to $100 bln annually
The General Union of Food Industries Workers, headed by Khaled Aish, Vice President of the Workers Union and Member of the Senate, has completed the preparation of the first version of a strategy to push and support Egypt’s exports in the food industries sector.
The union aims to bring the exports to new record levels, after the food industries sector succeeded last year in achieving $5.1 billion during the year 2023, compared to about 4.5 billion dollars in 2022, despite the economic burdens the world witnessed as a result of raising the prices of shipping and supply operations, which is the highest value in the history of Egyptian food industry exports.
Aish explained that the strategy includes four main axes, which are:
The first axis:
It is concerned with trade union education and training on the laws related to workers, including “labor and insurance” laws, in a way that serves the business environment and creates an appropriate work environment in which the worker’s interest is taken into account, and the maximum possible benefit is achieved in light of the proposed laws, at the forefront comes subjecting workers to the insurance umbrella and taking full care of their rights.
The second axis:
Paying attention to granting each commodity a “barcode” and having special technical committees for investors and seeking the assistance of highly professional, highly competent stealth teams to study the markets wishing to open export zones there.
The third axis:
This axis is related to packaging tools, production lines, and the factory’s conformity to all technical specifications that result in a good that matches the specifications to be able to compete.
The fourth axis:
This axis depends on seeking help from exporters, and benefiting from them in the export process and identifying the obstacles to foreign markets and mechanisms for removing those obstacles so that the surplus is exported to countries, saying: “We hope that Egyptian exports will double, especially since as export rates increase, the cost of production factors will decrease, and therefore the price of the final product will decrease, as well.”
This will save hard currency, noting that the Arab countries topped the list of countries importing Egyptian manufactured foods during the year 2023 with a value of $2.7 billion, equivalent to 54% of total food exports, especially Sudan, which came in first place among importers.
He explained that the most prominent food industries that were exported: jam, halva, sugar, juices, citrus fruits, dates, and biscuits, pointing out that the food industries sector was able to achieve unprecedented rates in exports last year as a result of the efforts of workers, and this also requires maintaining those rates and increase them as well.