Business
Egypt opens fifth medicinal and aromatic plants festival as officials cite export growth
October 31, 2026 at 01:01 PM · Updated 19m ago
Coverage
12 reports · over 4 hours
Egypt's agriculture and local development ministers opened the fifth Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Festival in Cairo on Saturday, citing export growth.
- Agriculture Minister Alaa Farouk and Local Development Minister Manal Awad opened the two-day festival at the Agricultural Museum in Dokki.
- Farouk said medicinal plant exports reached $852 million in 2025, up from $400 million in prior years.
- Awad said Egypt is building an integrated services center in Beni Suef with the UN Development Programme and the EU.
- A documentary shown at the opening said Egypt ranks fourth globally in dried plant exports at 150,000 tons worth $310 million.
- Farouk said the sector's investment projects total about $250 million, urging expanded processing to raise export value-added.
- German cooperation head Christian Grun said Egypt is the world's largest producer of geranium oil.
- Agricultural Export Council chairman Abdel Hamid El-Demerdash set a $7 billion agricultural export target by 2030.
- Swiss Embassy official Luca Etter said Egypt's exports hit about $300 million in 2024/2025, part of $4.5 billion in total agribusiness exports.
- Giza Governor Ahmed al-Ansari said the sector was a promising opportunity whose investment should extend to small producers and rural projects.
- Agricultural Exports Council deputy Tarek Bakr announced plans for a specialized school and a foundation stone for a large Beni Suef project.
- Farouk stressed coordination between the Local Development Ministry and civil society to support productive-village projects and expand industry localization across governorates.






