Economy

Egypt and India bilateral trade up 14% to $6bn in 2022

By Pramod Kumar

June 25, 2023, 6:28 AM

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Cairo airport on Saturday

Bilateral trade between Egypt and India reached $6 billion in 2022, an increase of 13.7 percent year-on-year, the state-owned Central Agency for Public Mobilizations and Statistics (Capmas) reported.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his official two-day visit to Cairo on Saturday, the first visit by any Indian premier to Egypt since 1997.

Egyptian exports to India stood at $1.9 billion in 2022, compared to $2 billion in 2021, down 6.5 percent, state-owned Ahram Online news outlet reported, citing the statistical agency. However, Egyptian imports from India reached $4.1 billion last year, compared to $3.2 billion in 2021, an increase of 26.4 percent.

Among the significant commodities exported by Egypt to India last year were mineral fuels, mineral oils and their distillation products ($1.1 billion); fertilisers ($242.1 million), inorganic chemical products ($240.8 million), salt and sulfur ($91.5 million) and cotton ($76.8 million).

Meanwhile, Egypt’s top Indian imports included meat ($669.2 million); iron and steel ($538.8 million), mineral fuels, mineral oils and their distillation products ($448.2 million), organic chemical products ($358.4 million) and boilers, machinery, mechanical appliances and tools ($274.4 million).

During his visit to India in January, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Indian prime minister announced plans to double bilateral trade from its current level to $12 billion in the next five years.

According to Capmas, Indian investments in Egypt reached $33.1 million in the first half of the fiscal year 2022/2023, compared to $24.2 million in FY2021/2022, an increase of 36.8 percent.

Around 50 Indian companies are operating in Egypt, which provide direct employment to 38,000 Egyptians, the Indian embassy said in a statement.

Meanwhile, remittances from Egyptians working in India reached $6 million in FY2021/2022, a 3.6 percent increase year-on-year.

The value of remittances from Indians working in Egypt hit $16.3 million in FY2021/2022, surging 13.8 percent increase.