Food retailer Kobe Bussan Co. says its vegetable plantation under development in southern Egypt for exports to Japan will be operational by February.

The operator of Gyomu Super discount supermarkets said Thursday it expects shipments to Japan to commence in a few years.

In the first agribusiness project by a Japanese company in Egypt, Kobe Bussan is developing 3,000 hectares outside Luxor, southern Egypt.

The company started negotiations with local authorities in 2006 and completed a test plantation in 2011.

Finishing the plantation has been delayed for several years due to the need to relocate residents around the site and Egypt's political unrest, the company said.