Russia interested in expanding exports of agricultural produce to Egypt - minister

MOSCOW. May 14 (Interfax) - Russia hopes to diversify the agricultural produce it exports to Egypt, including meat, fat-and-oil products, dairy products and fish, Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov said at a plenary meeting of the Russian-Egyptian committee for trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation.

"Egypt is one of the biggest market channels for Russian grain. We would like to increase exports and expand the range of goods to include higher volumes of meat, fat-and-oil products, dairy products and fish from Russia, as well as importing more fruit and vegetables from Egypt," he said, adding that Egyptian agricultural produce such as citrus products, potato, grapes and nuts were already widely represented on the Russian market.

Alikhanov said that Moscow hoped for "a continuation of active collaboration between the bodies responsible for veterinary surveillance in both countries and the attestation of Russian fish and dairy producers."

The minister said that Egypt was currently Russia's biggest foreign trade partner in Africa. "Our goods turnover is growing solidly, and has increased 1.5-fold over the last five years. In the past year alone, trade between Russia and Egypt grew almost 32% to over $9 billion. Our exports to Egypt span several goods categories, including machinery, metals, wood and more. We also export food products, predominantly wheat," he said.

Alikhanov said that the conclusion of a free trade agreement between Egypt and the Eurasian Economic Union would be a driving force in further developing the partnership. "We are willing to consider various initiatives for implementing joint technology production with Egyptian partners. In particular, we are pinning our hopes on the construction of the Russian industrial zone inside the Suez Canal Economic Zone, which will undoubtedly allow new joint initiatives to be launched in priority industry branches," he said.