Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s government will sign over the coming days an agreement with Italy, under which the latter will establish ten horizontal wheat silos with a capacity of 0.5 million tons annually, with investments totalling $17 million, announced Supplies Minister Khaled Hanafi.

 “The silos project is to be implemented over a period of two years, as a first phase of the $45-million debt swap program signed between Egypt and Italy,” said the minister.

The announcement came following the minister’s meeting with the director of the Development Cooperation Office in the Italian embassy in Cairo Marco Platzer and the former cooperation attaché at the Italian embassy in Cairo Guido Benevento and a number of Egyptian officials.

Hanafi added that both parties agreed on implementing phase two by establishing two logistics zones for storage of grains, vegetables and fruits, at a value of $28 million, which is the remaining sum of the swap program.