Maait added that 50 of the exporting companies received payments of EGP 1.1 billion at the end of last November, in coordination with the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire and the Export Development Bank of Egypt CAIRO: Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said that the government has distributed EGP 28 billion ($1.78 billion) in export subsidies to exporting companies from January 2019 until the end of December 2020. Maait added in a press conference that the share of the immediate payment initiative that was launched last month, and which will continue until the end of the year, will be EGP 20 billion, in addition to EGP 8 billion for other initiatives for exporters. The immediate payment initiative to support exports includes exporting companies giving up 15 percent of their dues in exchange for the immediate and full cash payment of all overdue dues to exporters. Maait pointed out that the number of companies that have submitted for the immediate payment initiative since its launch has reached 1,580. He explained that it is an optional, not mandatory, initiative. Maait added that 50 of the exporting companies received payments of EGP 1.1 billion at the end of last November, in coordination with the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire and the Export Development Bank of Egypt. Mervat Sultan, chairperson of the Export Development Bank, said that the bank had disbursed about EGP 585 million for 20 exporting companies since the implementation of the immediate payment initiative Sultan added that the immediate payment initiative to support exporters had restored confidence between the government and the private sector. The National Bank and the Export Development Bank of Egypt each have EGP 8 billion worth of shares in the initiative; Banque Misr has EGP 5 billion, and Banque de Caire has shares of EGP 2 billion. Hani Cassis, chairman of Mintra Paper Co., said that his company obtained EGP 50 million through Banque Misr for its outstanding dues. Meanwhile, a Trade Representation Authority study revealed opportunities to increase chemical industries exports by about $2 billion (EGP 31.2 billion) to about 37 countries. The study added that these markets offer other export opportunities for many Egyptian services, goods and products not previously capitalised upon. Khaled Abul-Makarem, chairman of the Export Council for Chemical Industries, said that the study monitored nine target markets in Africa, namely, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, Djibouti and Ghana, with an estimated volume of export opportunities of about $1 million. He added that the targeted Arab markets include Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Sudan. The estimated volume of export opportunities available to the markets of these countries is about $333 million.