UNDERSTANDING EGYPT’S MAIN AGRICULTURAL EXPORT FLOWS: A GRAVITY MODEL PERSPECTIVE العوامل المفسرة لتدفق الصادرات الزراعیة المصریة الرئیسیة من خلال تموذج الجاذبیة

Abstract

The study aims to investigate Egypt’s bilateral agricultural trade flows with major trading partners. Cotton lint, onions, oranges, potatoes, rice, molasses and vegetables are the paper’s main exportable concern, in which they composes about 82% of Egypt’s agricultural exports throughout the last decade. Panel data for the period 2003-2012 was employed via adopting Gravity model approach in explaining Egypt’s bilateral trade flows. Results revealed that Egypt’s agricultural bilateral export flow is likely to be escalated in proportion to GDP, openness and dummies for border while distance showed a negative relationship towards trade volume. Moreover,the EU is Egypt's main trade partner. More than 30% of Egypt’s exports to the world are directed to EU's 27 Member States, the main export destinations for Egyptian products in the EU are Italy, Germany, Spain, France, UK and Greece.