India and Egypt will work on a Terms of Reference to examine whether they should pursue a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) or a full Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced in Cairo on Sunday, on the sidelines of the India-Egypt Business Forum.

Source: Nation Press

The announcement is the first concrete outcome of Goyal's two-day Egypt visit on November 15-16, during which he is leading a delegation of more than 130 business leaders and start-ups and co-chairing the seventh session of the India-Egypt Joint Trade Committee with Egypt's Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Dr Mohamed Farid Saleh.

Source: ANI via Indian Economic Observer

Goyal held discussions with Saleh on expanding bilateral trade, boosting investments and identifying new avenues of cooperation, and the two ministers also jointly addressed the India-Egypt Joint Business Council meeting, Nation Press reported.

Source: Nation Press

$5.04 billionIndia-Egypt merchandise trade, April-September 2026, up 64% year on year
700+Registered Indian companies operating in Egypt
300+Companies from both countries at the Cairo Business Forum

What happens next

The two sides will now define the Terms of Reference, which will set the scope and depth of a prospective agreement. Whether it takes the form of a lighter PTA, covering select goods with tariff preferences, or a comprehensive FTA will depend on the feasibility work that follows, and no tariff changes take effect at this stage.

Source: Nation Press

Independent analysis of the announcement noted that businesses do not yet have a negotiated package of concessions to price in, and that Goyal also described plans to improve cooperation between customs authorities and explore mutual recognition involving testing agencies.

Source: Makhana Mornings

Goyal said more than 700 registered Indian companies currently operate in Egypt, and noted that an Indian company had, just a day earlier, confirmed an investment of approximately Rs 1,200 crore in an international seed company with manufacturing operations in Egypt. He pointed to manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, engineering, textiles and technology solutions as areas of strong complementarity between the two economies.

Source: Nation Press

In the full 2025-26 financial year, India exported $3.87 billion of goods to Egypt and imported $2.60 billion, according to official figures cited in the reporting. Egypt's location, bridging Africa, the Middle East and Europe, is seen in New Delhi as a gateway for Indian goods into all three regions.

Source: Makhana Mornings