Arab Republic of Egypt Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade General Organization for Export and Import Control

In the context of establishing rules of rational governance for data and developing a unified reference for information management, Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, the Prime Minister, witnessed today at the Government Headquarter in the New Administrative Capital, the ceremonies of signing two Cooperation Protocols between national data-issuing entities to audit and unify Egyptian export and import figures, for ensuring consistency, regulating and improving the quality of official data, and keeping pace with international developments in calculating macro indicators. The ceremony was attended by Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, Mr. Ahmed Kajouk, Minister of Finance, Dr. Sherif Farouk, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, Eng. Hassan Al-Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Eng. Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Major General/ Khayrat Barakat, President of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

The two Protocols of Cooperation were signed by Engineer Essam El-Naggar, President of General Organization for Export and Import Control (GOEIC), Mr. Ahmed Amawy, Chairman of Customs Authority, Dr. Ahmed Ashour, Supervisor of National Accounts Unit at the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, Dr. Adel Abdel-Azim, Assistant Deputy Governor for Economic Research at the Central Bank of Egypt, Ms. Nevin Mohamed Awad, Supervisor of the Economic and Mobilization Statistics Sector at the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, and Mr. Mohamed Ali Assy, Head of the Central Administration for Financial, Trade and Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

The two Protocols of Cooperation come as a result of works of both the committee formed by the Prime Minister’s Resolution No. (1887) of 2023, which is responsible for unifying the data of Egyptian export figures, as well as the committee for unifying the data of Egyptian import figures formed by the Prime Minister’s Resolution No. (3610) of 2024, chaired by the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, and membership of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, represented by the General Organization for Export and Import Control, Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, the Central Bank of Egypt, the Ministry of Finance, represented by the Customs Authority, and the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics as a rapporteur for the two committees.

Dr. Mostafa Madbouly stated that the signing of these two protocols comes within the framework of the strategic shift towards high value-added tradeable sectors, expanding the base of national exports, enhancing confidence in them, and facilitating their access to global markets, in light of the structural reforms being implemented to maximize the added value of products and services related to foreign trade.

The Prime Minister also considered that building a unified information base for exports and imports contributes to enhancing macroeconomic stability through the ability to predict policies, and building a more dynamic and robust economy that helps in reaching the targeted growth rate, in addition to enhancing investor confidence and increasing foreign exchange earnings.

On her part, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat explained that these two protocols come within the framework of efforts to adhere to the unified statistical classification of export and import data issued by various international bodies, including exported goods, goods imported through border crossings (ports of entry), and re-exported goods, with the aim of providing accurate and integrated statistical information and data that support the decision-making process by coordinating efforts between the various government agencies issuing foreign trade data, and subjecting them to standard auditing processes that ensure integrity, transparency, and reliability of data.

The Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation also confirmed that the significance of the protocols stems from their consistency with the objectives of the national narrative for the economic development and Egypt’s Vision 2030 for data production and availability, and the emphasis on the need to establish a technical and regulatory environment that ensures the standardization of data and its periodic auditing, in order to guarantee the sustainability of its quality, its protection and ease of its flow between different entities through an integrated electronic system that links all concerned parties, and helps in making informed decisions, and ensures the accuracy of outputs that support decision-making.