Cairo

India and Egypt, two of the world’s oldest civilizations, have enjoyed a history of close contact from ancient times. Ashoka’s edicts refer to his relations with Egypt under Ptolemy-II.

Egypt has traditionally been one of India’s most important trading partners in the African continent. The bilateral trade has increased more than five times in last ten years. The bilateral trade in 2018-19 reached US$ 4.55 billion. Despite Pandemic, the volume of trade declined only marginally to US $ 4.5 billion in 2019-20 and to US $ 4.15 billion in 2020-21

The iconic Cairo Tower (which is the tallest tower in North Africa) was illuminated with Indian National Flag in the evening of 15th August 2021.

At present, the Indian community in Egypt numbers at around 3200, most of whom are concentrated in Cairo. A majority of the Indians are either employed with Indian companies or are professionals with various multinationals.

Bilateral trade expanded rapidly in 2021-22, amounting to 7.26 billion registering a 75% increase compared to FY 2020-21. India’s exports to Egypt during this period amounted to US$ 3.74 billion, registering a 65% increase over the same period in FY 2020-21. Egypt’s exports to India reached US$ 3.52 billion registering an 86% increase over the previous year. According to the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), India was the 6th largest trading partner, 5th largest import source and 11th largest export destination for Egypt in 2021-22. In FY 2021-22, the top Indian imports from Egypt were Mineral Oil/Petroleum, Fertilizers, Inorganic Chemicals and Cotton and main items of export to Egypt from India were Buffalo Meat, Iron & Steel, Engineering Products, Light Vehicles and Cotton Yarn. During FY 2022-23, according to DGCIS, the bilateral trade has reached nearly USD 6.06 billion, with USD 4.11 billion exports from India and USD 1.95 billion imports from Egypt to India.