The Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry revealed that the trade balance deficit dropped 11 percent on an annual basis in January. According to a statement, exports increased 16 percent while imports declined 4 percent. Construction, chemical industries, ready-to-wear clothes as well as food and engineering products came in first on the list of sectors that witnessed the highest increase in exports. Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil said that Egyptian non-oil exports rose $1.9 billion in January compared to $1.6 billion in the same months in 2017. Kabil added that imports reached $4.6 billion compared to $4.7 billion in January of the past year. He commented on the positive indications of the Egyptian trade saying that they reflect the success of the ministry’s strategy that aims at cementing foreign trade in 2020. The trade balance deficit dropped in the fiscal year of 2016-2017, which witnessed floating the currency, with 8.4 percent, to reach a total of $35.4 billion due to the $3 billion increase in exports and $265.6 million decrease in imports. In another context, the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation (MIIC) issued last week the annual report 2017 under the title “Investing in Development”. According to the report, direct foreign investment rose during the past fiscal year by 14.5 percent. The direct foreign investment also benefited from the monetary reforms carried out by Egypt in 2016. As the floating succeeded in eliminating the black market of the American dollar, the dollar became available in banks, enabling companies to transfer funds easily. Furthermore, the Egyptian parliament approved in 2017 a new investment law that includes a bundle of reforms to facilitate the issuance of licenses and urge investors to invest in projects that are most beneficial to development.