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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 July 2000 Issue No. 490 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 July 2000 Issue No. 490
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Focus International Economy Opinion Interview Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Positive partnership
By Dina Ezzat
Egypt is about to initialise an agreement which will initiate it in what will become, in 2015, the world's largest trade bloc. Through the Egypt-EU Partnership Agreement, Egypt will join the EU-Southern/Mediterranean conglomeration of countries. Assistant Foreign Minister Gamal Bayoumi, who coordinated the five-year-long partnership negotiations, spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly about particulars of the agreement which is nearing signature. The following are extracts:"In accordance with clear directives from President Hosni Mubarak, the logistics of reviewing the Partnership Agreement's text are being stepped up to prepare for initialising it in first letters in a few weeks' time.
"Egypt will have a19-year transitional period during which it will gradually open up its market to the EU. Egypt's agricultural exports to the EU will immediately be increased from twice to six times their current volume. Processed agricultural products, namely food industry exports, to the EU will increase by between 40 to 800 per cent.
"From the start, the EU market will open up to Egyptian industrial exports. Quotas for Egyptian textiles and yarn export quotas will also be lifted.
"EU financial assistance to Egypt, which will increase significantly, should aid the government in the process of dismantling Egypt's import barriers. The partnership is also about more investments and more job opportunities. If this had not been the case, we would have been mad to sign it.
"But, we also need to do our homework. And this is precisely what President Mubarak meant by his assertion of 'our crucial need for modernisation' when he was discussing the partnership's potentials. Those protesting that the partnership agreement will close down industries ignore the fact that with or without it, unsuccessful industries will have to close down because of our national liberalisation commitments. Again, this is where President Mubarak's call for modernisation figures in.
"The agreement is not about closing industries. Rather, it is about substituting industries that are failing to produce quality products with those producing competitive, exportable goods. The legal terms of the agreement initially allow Egypt a preferential access to EU markets. Over the 19-year transition period, both sides will gain equal market access. In actual terms, this will depend on the capacity of each side to realise the required standards of production and export.
"The agreement stipulates explicitly that if a particular product's liberalisation is problematic, Egypt can re-introduce customs, as well as any other safeguards and exceptional mechanisms to deal with this.
"Parallel to this economic partnership, Egypt is also an active party to the 28-member EU-Southern/Eastern Mediterranean grouping, known as the Barcelona Process. The process advocates key policies supported by Egypt in the Arab-Israeli conflict, the signing of the NPT by all countries in the Middle East and support of Palestinian right to statehood."
