Al Ahram Al Ektesadi magazine, p.11, (26-5-2008)

Tea adjusts mood of Egyptian-Indian trade

By: Ahmed Saleh

It seems that the Indian tea will adjust the mood of the Egyptian-Indian trade over the next period after the Indian Minister of Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh pledged to establish a long-term partnership for exporting Indian tea to Egypt, specially as the Egyptians like tea so much. The Minister's statements came during a press conference organised by the Indian Embassy to Egypt. The Indian Minister said the Indian tea exports to the Egyptian market will rise to 20-30 million kg annually over the next four years as a centre to promote the Indian tea will be established in Egypt by 15^th of August. As a beginning, 8-10 million kg of tea will be exported this year.

He indicated that the trade balance between Egypt and India registered $ 2,800,000,000, 90% of which are Egyptian exports to India. On his part, Chairman of the Tea Board of India said India is the largest producer of tea in the world with more than 39,000 tea plantations having more than one million workers.

During 2007, India produced 28% of the world tea production (about 947 kg, including 218 kg of exports). He pointed out that the Indian tea exports to Egypt receded over the last two years due to the customs duties imposed following signing of the COMESA Agreement. But, the Egyptian side has recently taken a decision reducing duties on Indian tea, which helped reviving the tea trade with Egypt. Figures show that Egypt imported 67 million kg of tea during 2007, of which only 5 million kg from India. Studies show that the average per capita consumption of tea in Egypt is 90 kg annually.

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