One date in five is grown in Egypt. Now it wants to sell them finished
Egypt produces 20% of the world's dates and has planted the world's largest date farm. At the festival in Siwa, the government set out how to earn more from every harvest.
Siwa — Egypt grows a fifth of the world's dates and a quarter of the Arab world's, its industry minister, Khaled Hashem, said at the opening of the 9th International Egyptian Dates Festival, Daily News Egypt reports.
The festival runs from 14 to 16 October at the Olympic Village in the Siwa Oasis, in Matrouh governorate, under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The minister's speech was delivered on his behalf by Sherif El-Rashidi, who heads the ministry's industry affairs sector.
The world's largest date farm
The minister pointed to national projects to expand date palm cultivation, including the world's largest date palm farm, with 2.3 million palms, in the Toshka and East Oweinat regions.
From harvest to factory
The bigger opportunity, he said, lies beyond growing more: in manufacturing, packaging, storage, marketing and export, which add value, raise farmers' incomes and create jobs. Siwa is a key area for high-value semi-dry dates.
The ministry's priorities include:
- better treatment of dates after harvest
- more manufacturing, with modern technology and food safety systems
- support for small and medium-sized businesses
- making economic use of palm waste
The industry and agriculture ministries are updating the sector's strategy with the private sector and development partners.
A factory reopens
After the opening session, officials inaugurated the upgraded government date factory in Siwa. It has lines for washing, sorting and packing dates, and for making stuffed dates, date paste, minced dates, date syrup, vinegar and alcohol, plus a line that grinds date stones into animal feed.
The festival is supported by the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, based in the United Arab Emirates. That partnership has also rehabilitated the date complex in New Valley governorate, built cold stores in the Bahariya Oasis, and helped draft a strategy for the sector with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which has included Egyptian dates in its One Country One Priority Product initiative.
Winners of the 9th Egyptian Dates Competition were announced in eight categories, including best farm, best Siwi, Saidi and Medjool dates, best applied research and best packaging.
Source: Daily News Egypt, 14 October 2026.
