Malaysia, Egypt To Strengthen Economic Ties - MATRADE

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Egypt are striving to strengthen their economic ties following positive signs from reforms undertaken by the Egyptian authorities. Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) Deputy Chief Executive Officer Wan Latiff Wan Musa said as a result of various development efforts undertaken by the Egyptian government to stimulate the economy, export opportunities abounded for Malaysian companies. These include construction, building materials, machinery and equipment, furniture, automotive parts, halal products, healthcare products and services, oil and gas services and tourism-related products, as well as services. "Much need to be done to increase and deepen trade between both countries. "MATRADE, through its Cairo trade office, will keep the local companies informed of the programmes undertaken by the Egyptian government in supporting its trade and foreign investment," he said in a statement. The 2011 political revolution affected the Egyptian economy, which resulted a downtrend in terms of bilateral trade between Malaysia and Egypt. Malaysia's total trade with Egypt in 2016 was only about half the volume recorded in 2010. It decreased 18.9 per cent to RM2.58 billion in 2016 from RM3.18 billion in 2015 with exports declined 6.8 per cent to RM2.08 billion and imports fell 47.1 per cent to RM505.4 million. (US$1 = RM4.42) Recently, the World Bank approved US$3 billion while the International Monetary Fund extended another US$12 billion for Egypt to carry out various construction and infrastructure developments such as ports, roads, power generation, facilities and water treatment plants. Egypt has the largest population in the Middle East and North Africa with over 90 million people. Malaysian companies that are keen to explore the Egyptian market may contact MATRADE's Cairo office by email at cairo@matrade.gov.my. --BERNAMA