CAIRO: Egypt’s Minister of Defense approved a trade ministry proposal to allow the union of chambers of commerce to issue permits for the transport of goods during the imposed curfew, Al-Ahram reported.
The curfew was eased on Monday and is now from 6 am-8 pm.
The transportation will be coordinated with the army in a bid to resume Egypt’s internal trade process, Beltone Financial reported citing Al-Ahram.
This will ensure that essential products are available in the domestic market, and that ports are not over-burdened with goods. Egypt saw a 6 percent decrease in exports in January.
The Minister of Trade and Industry has closed a deal to import 170,000 tons of wheat from the US, Australia and Argentina through an international bid. The shipment of wheat is due to start on March 21, Al-Ahram added.
This wheat shipment will go into the production of subsidized bread, and is part of ensuring the sufficiency of Egypt’s strategic stock of wheat.
In related news, Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmy said that Egypt’s natural gas exports to Jordan and Syria that have been interrupted by Al-Arish incident will be temporarily redirected for domestic consumption.
