Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Qabil Headed to Brazil to participate in the ministerial meeting of the Mercosur bloc on the behalf of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
The minister participation aims to boosting trade and economic cooperation with the bloc, especially after Mercosur-Egypt trade deal has gone into force.
Egypt is attending the ministerial meeting of the Mercosur bloc in Brasilia to deliver a message about the importance of joining the group, Qabil said.
“If Egypt joined them, it will increase trade volume with these countries and reach new markets,” Kabil stated.
Founded in 1991, Mercosur is an economic and political bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and Venezuela. The bloc saw some early successes, including a tenfold increase in trade within the group in the 1990s.
The GDP of the countries founding the Mercosur reached $1.7 trillion, with a growth rate of seven percent. The bloc’s global imports amounted to $235 billion in 2016.
