Italy represents the "gateway" to European markets for Egypt's agricultural products, Egyptian agriculture minister Abdel Moneim al-Banna told Adnkronos news agency during a visit to Rome this week.
"The construction of a 'green corridor' is crucial for trade between Egypt and Italy - your country is the gateway to Europe for our agricultural produce," al-Banna said during a visit to the Adnkronos-GMC media group's headquarters on Wednesday.
The government is rolling out a series of major projects to boost national food security, al-Banna stated.
"To this end, the government is strengthening Egypt's infrastructure with 5,000 kilometres of new roads to link many areas of the country and its new cities," al-Banna said.
Energy production is another key priority, especially electricity generation, he said.
"The aim is to improve people's lives in rural areas," he stated.
Egypt is also proud of a series of integrated projects that harness highly advanced agricultural technology to meet internal demand for food, as well as export requirements, al-Banna underlined.
Such projects include the reclamation of over 630,000 hectares (1.5 million feddan) of desert for agricultural cultivation. The land is mainly distributed to young farmers, who hold a stake in it and some of whom form cooperatives, al-Banna said.
The government is also planning training courses to support young entrepreneurs, al-Banna noted.
Al-Banna was in Rome From Monday to Wednesday to attend a meeting of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)'s governing body.
