MOSCOW - Egypt, the biggest ​buyer of Russian ⁠wheat, aims to create a ‌global grain trading and storage hub, Supply Minister ​Sherif Farouk said on Friday, speaking at a grains ​event in the ​Russian city of Sochi.

Faruk said that Egypt is pursuing an ambitious ⁠and comprehensive strategy to transform the country into a hub for the storage and processing of grain crops as well ​as ‌trading grain throughout the ⁠Middle ⁠East, Africa, and other regions.

"In this context, Egypt ​now wants to establish ‌a global hub for grains," ⁠Farouk said, adding that the project will include modern elevators, transport systems, and processing and storage facilities.

He said that Egyptian and Russian commodity exchanges could join forces in modernisation of Egypt's grain trading infrastructure, developing pricing benchmarks, and ensuring supply ‌chain's transparency.

"Egypt will continue to strengthen its ⁠relationship with Russia in developing ​grain tracking systems. All these efforts will help us improve transparency and resilience ​in the strategic ‌commodity market," Farouk said. 

(Reporting by ⁠Olga Popova, Writing ​by Alessandra Prentice and Gleb Bryanski)