Qatar-Egypt trade rose 17.5% in first 7 months of 2017 despite Gulf rift

Egypt’s trade exchange with Qatar rose 17.5 percent during the first seven months of 2017, reaching $1.12 billion compared to $923.266 million last year.

The volume of foreign trade between the two countries registered a 76 percent growth in 2016, stood at $1.812 billion compared to $1.039 billion in 2015.

Qatar captures 14.3 percent share in the volume of Egypt’s trade exchange with the GCC, which recorded around $7.8 billion, during the January-July period.

In July, the trade exchange between the two countries fell 58.3 percent, reaching $123.467 million compared to $195.451 million last year, according to Egypt’s official statistics agency CAPMAS.

In late June, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates broke off relations with Qatar in the worst diplomatic crisis to hit Gulf Arab states in decades. The three Gulf countries and Egypt accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and destabilising the region.

Egypt’s imports from Qatar surged 20.9 percent in the first seven months of the year, recording $925.445 million compared to $765.451 million last year; while in July, the figures reported a 52.1 percent fall to record $83.934 million.