CAIRO, 9th February, 2026 (WAM) -- Alaa Farouk, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, said that the UAE has contributed significantly to supporting Egypt's efforts to develop the date sector, expand the cultivation of high-value varieties, enhance processing and cold-storage capacities, and establish specialised industrial complexes for export.

Speaking at the opening of the sixth edition of the Cairo International Dates Festival at the Agricultural Museum in Dokki, with the participation of more than 60 exhibitors from various governorates and a number of participants from Arab countries representing producers of dates and various natural products, the minister said that the UAE supported the rehabilitation and renovation of the Kharga Date Complex in the New Valley Governorate at a cost of around EGP17 million. The UAE also contributed to the establishment of a date cold-storage complex in Bahariya Oasis with a capacity of 4,000 tonnes, helping to improve production efficiency.

He noted that in previous years the UAE had also supported the rehabilitation of the Siwa Oasis date factory at a cost of approximately EGP14 million. In addition, it has contributed to the ongoing expansion of specialised date industrial complexes in several areas, including Sadat City, Borg El Arab, 10th of Ramadan City and 6th of October City. These efforts aim to improve post-harvest systems through the development of sorting, grading, packaging and packing technologies, and to enhance final product quality in line with international standards.

The Egyptian Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation stressed that these efforts have helped position Egypt among the world's leading date-producing countries, accounting for around 19 percent of global production, with annual output approaching two million tonnes. Egypt has more than 24 million palm trees, alongside plans to further expand the cultivation of high-value export varieties.