The Hindu : Egypt throws open wheat market to India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 12, 2003

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Egypt throws open wheat market to India

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI April 11. Egypt has thrown open its seven million tonne wheat market to India. It has agreed to import Indian wheat after the decks were cleared by its committee approving Indian grain quality for imports.

The visiting Egyptian Under-Secretary of State, El Said Fouad Kassem, said here today that Indian wheat has been approved by ``our technical committee and this was one of the agenda items we agreed upon during discussions with Indian authorities and now our grain market is open to Indian produce''.

The breakthrough follows a meeting of the five-member Egyptian delegation with Commerce Ministry officials last evening. The delegation also called on the Commerce Minister, Arun Jaitley. Egypt consumes 10 million tonnes of wheat annually, of which only 2-3 million is produced within the country leaving immense potential for exports by India.

After the meeting, it was disclosed that the Egyptian quarantine authority had put its stamp of approval to wheat imports from India and handed over a copy of the country's quality standards and technical specifications which need to be met. India has agreed to examine the Egyptian request to set up wheat silos and flour mills in Egypt by Indian enterprise, as per the minutes of the Indo-Eyptian Joint Working Group signed by Mr. Kassem and the Commerce Ministry Joint Secretary, V.P.C. Shastry.

Asked about the quantity of wheat his country was likely to import from India, Mr. Kassem said now the entire market was open and it was for Indian traders to cash in on the opportunity. The two countries were also working on a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), the final draft of which would be readied at the next meeting of the JWG to be held in Cairo in June. The main objective of PTA would be to double the bilateral trade within a year from the present level of $900 millions annually. In 2001-02, the bilateral trade was put at $560 millions.

He said the two countries would sign the PTA by September this year and the items which Egypt wanted to purchase from India included wheat, tea, meat, machinery, automobile spare parts, cotton yarn and pulses. The items which Egypt wanted to sell India included cotton, leather and marble.

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