NEW DELHI: India and Egypt will explore the possibility of a trade agreement to boost bilateral trade and investment while safeguarding the interests of farmers, fishermen and small workers in both countries, Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Sunday.Speaking in Cairo, Goyal said officials from the two countries would first prepare the terms of reference to define the scope of a possible agreement and identify areas of mutual benefit.“Once the terms of reference are set, we’ll find out what we can realistically achieve and how much a boost we can get in both investment and trade,” Goyal told ANI.“We’ll also figure out how to do all this without harming each other’s farmers or fishermen,” he added.He said the discussions would also take into account the impact on small workers and explore areas where the two economies could complement each other.Addressing the India-Egypt Business Forum earlier in the day, Goyal said the two sides would consider whether a preferential trade agreement or a free trade agreement would be more suitable.Goyal expressed confidence that India and Egypt would achieve the bilateral trade target of $12 billion set by the leaders of the two countries. He said both sides were looking to expand trade further.“We will definitely meet that bilateral trade target between the two countries. Beyond that, we want to make a bigger leap,” he said.Bilateral trade in goods rose 64% year-on-year to $5.04 billion during April-September 2026, according to a commerce ministry release dated November 14.In the 2025-26 financial year, India’s goods exports to Egypt stood at $3.87 billion, while imports from the country were valued at $2.60 billion. This took total bilateral goods trade to $6.47 billion.Goyal arrived in Cairo on November 14 for a two-day official visit on November 15 and 16, accompanied by a delegation of more than 130 business leaders and startup representatives, the Commerce Ministry said.During the visit, he co-chaired the seventh India-Egypt Joint Trade Committee meeting with Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Mohamed Farid Saleh.The programme also includes a Joint Business Council meeting and the Egypt-India Startups Forum.
