CAIRO, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian government has decided to lift a ban on EgyptAir's direct cargo flights after more than two years of suspension, the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The decision would contribute to increasing the competitiveness of Egyptian exports to the Canadian market, particularly the agricultural crops," said Kabil.
The minister pointed out that the decision came after efforts exerted by the Egyptian Commercial Representation Bureau in Montreal in coordination with the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry that arranged a visit of a delegation from the Canadian Ministry of Transport to Egypt.
The Canadian officials have reviewed the procedural and security arrangements regarding EgyptAir's cargo direct flights to Toronto in Canada, Kabil said.
Egypt has been suffering economic recession over the past few years of political instability and relevant security challenges.
The country is currently working on increasing its exports as one of the main sources of national income and hard currency, and it managed to increase its non-oil exports by 9 percent to exceed 21 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, according to an official report released in January.
To boost economy, Egypt started in late 2016 with full local currency floatation as an initial step of a strict three-year economic reform program based on austerity measures, fuel and energy subsidy cuts and tax hikes.
Egypt's reform plan has been encouraged by a 12-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund, half of which has already been delivered to the most populous Arab country.
