Comparative Advantage and Competitiveness of Egyptian Potato Exports in World Markets

Abstract

The Egyptian agricultural sector is considered one of the important sectors to achieve many achievements, through which the national product can be magnified for its important role in foreign trade. The agricultural sector plays a major role through its contribution to the development of agricultural exports. Potato is one of the most promising export crops in terms of global demand, and the possibility of cultivating them in new lands on the other hand. In view of the decline of Egyptian exports of potatoes to some international markets in recent times, to enter new competitors as in the European market despite the increase of Egypt's share in the Egyptian-European partnership agreements, as well as instability of the quantities produced, or export prices to the Arab market for competition from exports to countries Other, The study aimed at boosting the export of Egyptian potatoes and avoiding the problem of the decline in international markets, while continuing to grow Egyptian exports of potatoes in these markets by knowing the current production status of potato crop and the main features of exports. And work to maximize the export yield of the crop. The study was adopted to achieve its objectives on the descriptive and quantitative method in analyzing the economic data and phenomena related to the subject of the study, as well as the use of statistical analysis methods to measure the effect of some economic factors that serve the objective of the research. The most important results were as follows: 1- The cultivated area increased by 18.73 thousand feddans annually during the study period (2002-2015). 2- An increase of kidney production by 227.3 thousand tons per year during the study period (2002-2015). 3. For agricultural exports, it covers only about 42.89% of agricultural imports. Potato exports also cover part of the exports, with exports amounting to about US $ 1,487.5 million in the period of study. The exported quantity increases annually by 2.78 thousand tons. 4 - For the indicators of competitive advantage, it was found that Egypt has a competitive advantage for the export of potatoes compared to Britain, Italy, Russia, Greece, Germany, America, Canada, which are competing countries in the export of potatoes to certain countries. 5. The percentage of potatoes production in Egypt to the total world production was 0.91%, which made it the fourth largest among the producing countries. However, the proportion of potato exports to the total exports of the world was estimated at 4.3%. This is a low ratio. This requires reconsideration of export policies. Competitive position. 6- The Egyptian exports of potatoes are concentrated in Egypt, where 92.72% of them are exported to six countries. According to the Gini coefficient, exports to Italy ranked first with about 24.62%. The share of potato exports to Arab countries (Lebanon) was about 13.56% Of total potatos exports in the study period. 7- The market penetration rate was low for the Egyptian potato importers during the period (2002-2015), which indicates that Egypt's potato can not penetrate these markets. This means that Egypt does not have a competitive advantage in these markets. It has also been shown that there are countries whose imports have increased and others have decreased. This requires attention to export policies and support for the competitive position.