Egypt’s medical exports increased by 14% to approximately $530m in the first half (1H) of 2023, compared to $467m in the same period last year, Chairperson of Egypt’s Export Council for Medical Industries (ECMI) Maged George announced on Saturday.
George said that the Council seeks to increasemedical exports by 30% annually, in accordance with the Egyptian state’s plans to grow total exports to $100bn.
He praised the cabinet’s vision to increase Egyptian commodity exports by at least 20% annually to support foreign currency resources, highlighted that the Council focuses on achieving annual targets to increase exports by no less than 30% y-o-y, which supports the government’s direction towards developing exports and contributing to solving shortage of foreign currency supply.
George noted that the medical sector’s exports witnessed a great development during the past three years, achieving an increase of 200% compared to 2019 exports before the COVID-19 fallout, indicating that the growing demand for the sector’s products during COVID-19 clearly contributed to the increase in exports.
He concluded: “The Export Council focuses on the African market and all markets in which we have a comparative advantage in the sector’s products in the coming period. Accordingly, it is important to find urgent solutions to some challenges in the African market, including, for example, lack of banks that give credit facilities to importers and long periods of transportation of goods, which may take about four months.”
