CAIRO, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's exports are expected to rise by 20 percent by the end of 2019, Egypt's Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar said on Tuesday.

The minister, who made the comments during an economic conference in Cairo, said that Egypt's Sustainable Development Vision 2030 targets an increase in the macroeconomic indices, including the export sector as a key source of hard currency.

Nassar explained that the government has undertaken legislative and structural reforms including new laws and amendments, including an amendment to the investment law, a new industrial license law, a competitiveness protection law, as well as laws on customs system and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) development.

"Recent years have witnessed intensive investments in infrastructure projects in Egypt, including road projects that have pushed Egypt to jump 90 spots in the global ranking of road quality, in addition to electricity and energy projects," Nassar said.

The minister said that the SME sector has been an essential contributor to the sustainable economic growth that has been achieved over the last years.

He added that Egypt aims to increase its domestic manufacturing between 2019 and 2024 to boost the competitiveness of domestic products and stimulate investments.

Egypt's economy has been suffering over the past few years because of political turmoil and security issues that followed the 2011 revolt that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.

The country's ongoing economic reform plan, backed by a loan of 12 billion U.S. dollars from the International Monetary Fund, is based on strict austerity measures, tax hikes and energy subsidy cuts.

Despite the consequent price hikes and inflation rise, world financial institutions and research centers commended Egypt's reforms, with IMF expecting the country to contribute 1.5 percent to the world's growth by 2024. Enditem

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