The chemical industries and fertilizers sector occupied the first place in the volume of Egypt’s exports, achieving an annual growth of 43 percent during 2021. The sector recorded $6.6 billion in 2021, compared to $4 billion in the year before, the head of the Chemical and Fertilizers Export Council, Khaled Abu Al Makarem, said. The importance of the sector"s exports stood out, reaching about 22 percent of the volume of Egyptian non-oil exports. EU countries accounted for the lion’s share with 29 percent of the total chemical exports, followed by Asian countries and Arab countries with 21 percent each. This increase is attributed to the ministry of trade and industry’s efforts to support the export sectors during the pandemic, Abu Al Makarem said. The ministry avoided the closure of factories to preserve the markets, as a number of them relied on Egyptian products to replace the ones from factories that stopped working due to the pandemic, he explained. Additionally, the immediate payment initiative launched jointly by the ministries of trade and industry, and finance has allowed exporters to pay arrears to meet their commitments towards customers. Exports also benefited from the free trade agreements signed between Egypt and African countries, which achieved high growth rates in the import of Egyptian products.