12 - 18 April 2001
Issue No.529
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 April 2001 Issue No.529 |
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How and when not if
The Trade and Investment Framework Agreement signed between Egypt and the US in 1999, is the mechanism by which the two countries are seeking ways to promote the liberalisation of trade and attract more investments to Egypt. A discussion is under way on needed structural changes in Egypt's customs, taxation and intellectual property rights.
The ultimate objective is to attain an overall area for trade and investment between the two countries. One sector which we are working intensively on is textiles. Facilitating the entry of Egyptian textiles into the US requires negotiations to accommodate pressure groups (who enforce protectionist measures against the entry of textiles exports to the US). The agricultural sector is another domain where Egypt will benefit a lot from a free trade area with the US. Egyptian agricultural products will then be able to access the American market, since the current 188 per cent customs levied on these exports will be lifted. American companies working in huge agricultural projects will also be looking to Egypt as a base for their operations, especially since these companies will be forced to cut down on cultivable areas inside the US, as a result of the World Trade Organisation's negotiations between Washington and the EU.
What will help Egypt prepare itself for free trade with the US are negotiations already undertaken with the EU which have entailed studying all sectors of the economy, bearing in mind how they should engage in free trade. There is no disagreement between Egypt and the US over the need to integrate their economies. What we are discussing is how, and when, this should be done. Hager El-Islambouly, assistant to the foreign minister for North American Affairs.
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