Will Sudan lift its ban on imports of Egyptian products by January 2018? Sudanese Investment Minister Mubarak Al Fadel tells Al Borsa that Egypt and Sudan have held several meetings to resolve the issue — and that Khartoum will likely lift the bans by the beginning of next year. According to Al Fadel, Sudanese Trade Minister Hatem El Ser Aly arrived in Cairo several days ago for talks with Egypt’s Tarek Kabil to discuss the imports crisis and ways to improve cooperation. Al Fadel also said that the coming period will see increased economic trade and cooperation between the two “brotherly” countries, pointing to businessman Naguib Sawiris’ plans to establish a major touristic project in Sudan.

However, Deputy Agriculture Minister Safwat El Haddad denied the news, telling Al Mal that there are “no new developments” on the issue. Khartoum had imposed a succession of bans on Egyptian imports in September 2016 and March of this year, followed by a blanket ban in May. The bans came as relations between Egypt and Sudan continued to deteriorate and tensions flared. Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir had accused Egypt of arming rebels — an accusation President Abdel Fattah El Sisi denied — and another “crisis” arose between the two countries over territorial claims over the Halayeb and Shalatin triangle.

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Ministry is still pressing Saudi Arabia to look into lifting its ban on imports of Egyptian strawberries and peppers, El Haddad tells Al Mal. The ministry requested that the Kingdom send a technical team to inspect the farms and packaging stations, according to El Haddad, who says he expects that Riyadh will lift the ban following the inspections, which could wrap by the end of the month. Agriculture Ministry spokesperson Hamid Abdel Dayem had claimed in October that Saudi Arabia had lifted its ban on imports of Egyptian strawberries, but it was unclear at the time whether the move was temporary or permanent. The strawberry ban, which KSA imposed in July over concerns of high levels of residual pesticide, came months after a separate ban on all kinds of peppers for the same reason in December 2016.