Egypt has seen a 50% increase in medicinal and aromatic plant and herb sterilisation during the first quarter (Q1) of 2020, according to the Food and Agri-Business Centre.
Amgad El-Kady, General Manager of the Technology and Innovation Industrial Council said that Egypt’s exports of these products during the 1Q 2020 reached about 12,500 tonnes worth $20m. This brings the total exported medicinal, aromatic plants and herbs from the start of the current fiscal year (July 2019 – March 2020) to roughly 35,000 tonnes to 86 countries worldwide, with an export value of $55m.
The centre, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Technology and Innovation Industrial Council, said that the increase has been to maintain the export rates of these products. It added that it is particularly important to do this in the current circumstances, given the wide-ranging economic impacts of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
El-Kady said that Egypt is a world leader in producing and exporting medicinal, aromatic plants and herbs.
Hanan El-Hadary, the council’s rapporteur said that the current period represents a concrete opportunity for Egypt to increase its agricultural and food commodity exports. This is particularly so due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and increasing global demand for herbal products.
El-Hadary noted that the Food and Agri-Business Centre’s sterilisation unit is providing its services to medicinal and aromatic plants exporters. The centre is also achieving an increase in average productivity, having sterilised about 300 tonnes of exported plants during the Q1 2020, despite the current global conditions.
