Cairo – Mubasher: Trade deficit between Egypt and the European Union (EU) fell 16% year-on-year to EUR 10.7 billion from EUR 12.76 billion in the first 11 months of 2017, trade minister Tarek Kabil said in a statement on Tuesday.

Egyptian exports to the EU markets grew 24% to $7.5 billion in the January-November period of 2017, compared to $6.3 billion in the same period of 2016, Kabil added.

Egyptian imports from Romania dropped 3% to $18.2 billion in the 11-month period last year, versus $18.8 billion in the same period of 2016, Kabil indicated.

The Arab world's most populous country seeks to hold an annual trade committee between Cairo and Brussel to discuss potential challenges and trade exchange between both parties, the minister emphasised.

The EU is the largest investor in Egypt, accounting for 75% of foreign inflows to the North African nation over the past period, he noted.

The EU is Egypt’s main export market, as it makes up 22.7% of the Arab nation’s exports to foreign markets, he pointed out.

This came on the sidelines of the minister’s meeting with European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström at the 10th Union for the Mediterranean Trade Ministerial Conference in Belgium, Brussel.