The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine launches briefings series on trade opportunities in Africa for Ukrainian exporters
On January 28, 2021 Exporters and Investors Council under the MFA of Ukraine and the Embassy of Ukraine in the Arab Republic of Egypt held an online briefing for Ukrainian exporters «Market entry and doing business in Egypt».
Deputy Foreign Minister (CDTO) Mr. Dmytro Senik and Ambassador of Ukraine to the Arab Republic of Egypt Mr. Yevhen Mykytenko opened the event. Representatives of Ukrainian companies in mechanical engineering, metallurgy, agriculture, food, chemical, pharmaceutical and IT sectors participated in this event.
Mr. Dmytro Senik noted in his welcoming speech that Egypt remains Ukraine's largest economic partner among African and Arab countries and is the largest consumer of traditional Ukrainian exports in the region, which are agricultural and metallurgical products.
Deputy Minister said that the presentation of trade opportunities in Egyptian markets was the first of a planned series of briefings on African markets.
«The region of North Africa is well known by Ukrainian businessmen. At the same time, the rest of the continent, in particular sub-Saharan Africa, remains a bit unknown territory for most of exporters. The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine is launching a series of online briefings for Ukrainian exporters aimed to discuss the promising markets of the continent of Africa», - Ukrainian diplomat said.
During the briefing, Ukrainian diplomats discussed current economic situation in Egypt, doing business on local market.
Diplomats mentioned that Ukraine ranks 11th among all Egypt’s exports partners with a share of 2.8%. The prospective goods for the Ukrainian exports to Egypt are those with high added-value, namely production of mechanical engineering, shipbuilding and car building industries, high-tech aviation manufacturing industry and space industry, and energy equipment. There is an increase in exports of scientific and technical services, as well as in engineering, information, and educational services.
Mr.Yevhen Mykytenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Arab Republic of Egypt spoke on the benefits of doing business in a joint venture. «Establishment of a joint venture and organization sales on the territory of Egypt can enable access to a market of 1.3 billion consumers with a total GDP of $3.4 trillion. It’s important to get right the localization of production of goods. In this case, the goods are considered made in Egypt and have the right to duty-free movement both within the country and within the existing economic integration associations, (he means African countries and most Arab countries)», - Ukrainian diplomat explained.
Reference: In 2020, the Ukrainian-Egyptian trade turnover amounted to $1,693 million. At the same time, exports of Ukrainian goods to Egypt amounted to $1,618 million, and imports amounted to $75 million. A positive trade balance (a trade surplus for Ukraine) amounted to $USD 1,543 million.
For the first 9 months of 2020, the Ukrainian-Egyptian volume of trade in services amounted to $79 million. Ukrainian companies provided services to Egypt amounted to $24.34 million, and exports of Egyptian services amounted to $54.43 million. A negative trade balance in services amounted to $30.090 million.
The total value of trade in goods in 2019 and services (the figures are available for 9 months only) between Ukraine and Egypt to $1,772 million.
Exporters and Investors Council in the MFA of Ukraine (EIC) is a platform, which unites Ukrainian producers, exporters and leading business associations providing necessary support in promoting their goods and services abroad and entering new markets, attracting foreign investors and companies to Ukraine and creating business matchmaking for the businesses.