Egypt bets on ‘king of dates’ to boost exports

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00:00This oasis boasts over 80,000 palm trees and date harvesting began two weeks ago.

00:07The manager of the largest farm in Egypt is pleased with the results.

00:11Actually we are number one, we are pioneering the date production in Egypt.

00:16We have our standards, our know-how that gives us this premium quality.

00:23Every single aspect is measured, is followed by restricted operations and procedures.

00:32With 1.8 million tonnes of dates this year, Egypt asserts its position as the top producer worldwide,

00:39but it still exports only 3% of its total production.

00:45However, the types of dates that Egypt is producing, it's not only Majouls.

00:50We have lots of dates, we have Majouls, Siwi, Saidi, Gizawi.

00:55Internationally, people are not asking for it. It's not like Majoul. Majoul is the king of dates.

01:02At the Ministry of Agriculture, there are genuine ambitions for the future of both production and exports.

01:11Egypt is the 10th largest exporter of dates worldwide.

01:15We expect to add 500,000 tonnes more by planting 5 million palm trees.

01:20These varieties have a high economic return and therefore will help trade.

01:26So, God willing, we will be able to increase the export value of Egyptian dates.

01:33With these new investments, the Egyptian government hopes to take the world by storm with its dates.

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