1 - 7 February 2001
Issue No.519
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 1 - 7 February 2001 Issue No.519 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Upholding free trade
The Arab summit meeting due to be held in Jordan next March will discuss a new plan supporting trade and investment between the Arab countries. We all seek the free exchange of goods, services and the free movement of labour. This is becoming urgent in view of the decline in the gross national products of Arab economies and of their share in the global trade for commodities.
The Council for Arab Economic Unity has devised a plan establishing holding companies that would engage in production and investment where the private sector will play its role. There are about 26 Arab federations representing different economic sectors, such as insurance and pharmaceuticals, which should support trade between Arab countries and enhance the possibilities of establishing joint investment projects.
In this context, the Alexandria Business Association has taken the lead in establishing a successful project for the funding of small enterprises, which is part of the plan to establish an Arab business federation promoting social development. We also need successful programmes modernising the infrastructure for trade, in the realm of both e-commerce and maritime transport, decreasing transport costs between the Arab countries which currently do not have direct maritime routes connecting them.
Other challenges relate to an exploding Arab population and increasingly scarce water resources. Scientific research is not sustained on the scale that it should be. We also need to realise that the economies harbouring small entities will not survive. The largest bank in the Arab area, which is located in Saudi Arabia, is ranked the world's 112th, indicating the extent of the problem. Arab free trade continues to face obstacles, manifest in the increasing instances of Arab countries requesting that they be exempted from the reduction of customs tariffs on imports coming in from other Arab countries. As a result, 2,950 industrial commodities have been exempted from the free trade arrangement.
Ahmed Guweili, secretary-general of the Council for Arab Economic Unity, speaking to members of the Alexandria Business Association (EBA).
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page