Friday, September 25, 2009

Egypt keen on tea import from Assam


Surajit Khaund
GUWAHATI, Sept 24 – Egypt has evinced a keen interest to import tea from Assam. To carry forward its plan, Head of Economy and Commerce of Egyptian Embassy, India, Mohammed Abdullah is arriving in Guwahati on October 2. “We will initiate a discussion with a group of tea producers in the State. Hopefully, we will be able to ink a deal in this regard,” Abdullah told this correspondent from New Delhi today. In this context, he said that the demand for tea in Egypt has been increasing over the years and therefore Assam can enjoy a sizeable market in the country.

According to available information, Egypt imports tea worth $ 60 million per annum. South Africa, Kenya are the main players dominating the Egyptian tea market. India’s tea export to Egypt is very little.

“Consumption of tea in Egypt has been increasing, to meet the demand, we can import from Assam. Moreover, Assam tea is a leading brand in the world market,” he said.

Asked about the nature of import, Abdullah informed that he would pursue the deal with the State tea producers. “It entirely depends on the tea producers of the State,” he added.

Abdullah who is also participating in the inaugural ceremony of the ‘Grassland’, a new resort developed near the Kaziranga National Park, said that tourism is also a core area in the region in which Egyptian Government is targeting. “We can jointly develop eco-tourism in the North East by utilizing its gifted resources . This will be a win-win situation for entrepreneurs engaged in the tourism sector,” he stated.

Expressing satisfaction with the current volume of bilateral trade between India and Egypt, the senior official said that the volume of trade between the countries has been growing exponentially during the last couple of years.

The present volume of trade between India and Egypt stands at $ 4 billion per annum . Egypt mainly imports textiles and auto components from India. The important sectors where the cooperation has increased are Information Technology, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, steel, energy and agricultural equipment.

Egypt and India are now aiming to increase bilateral trade volume to $10 billion in the next few years.

India’s investment in Egypt currently stands at around $800 million.

Souce:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=sep2509/at09

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