20 - 26 December 2001
Issue No.565
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 20 - 26 December 2001 Issue No.565 |
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View from within
The challenges ahead
The world is changing and people must understand well how to react to these changes. How can we survive if we stay within the limits of the Egyptian borders? Egypt should be open to all trade partners. The door to let you go abroad is quality competitiveness.
Gamal Bayoumi
We joined the GATT on 1968, Egypt was not treated as a developing country in many cases; we are not the poorest.
Egypt is situated in a highly attractive location, with natural trade routes in all directions. This location is an asset, which has not yet been fully utilised. Realising this fact, Egypt has been expanding its preferential trade linkages. Egypt and the EU are scheduled to conclude an Association Agreement to replace the current Cooperation Agreement since it accommodates neither the aims nor the actual relations between the two sides. Egypt seeks to enter a new phase of relationship with the EU based on partnership. Egypt has signed a number of bilateral FTA agreements with its Mediterranean partners such as Tunisia. It is also at an advanced stage of negotiations to conclude an FTA agreement with Turkey. The EU's expertise in this field could be of relevance.
Egypt is taking the initiative to establish the Mediterranean- Arab Free Trade Area (MAFTA) which could be a viable step in the direction of achieving a form of regional economic integration in the south Mediterranean region. Under such an arrangement the whole region will be perceived as one big market where it is possible to invest and trade without restrictions.
The establishment of MAFTA will enable the south Mediterranean to attract meaningful levels of foreign direct investment, overcoming the problem of the smallness of their national markets.
By the end of the next decade, Egyptian entrepreneurs will be able to enter freely into the markets of the Euro-Med Free Trade area, the Arab world and the Common Market of East and South Africa (COMESA) with a total of 970 million consumers.
The challenges and opportunities inherent in such an arrangement are immense and it is up to Egyptian civil society to make the most of the opportunities it presents and meet the challenges with an open- minded attitude. It should realise that there will be a difficult transition in the coming years, which it must overcome to occupy its rightful place in the global economy.
* Ambassador Gamal Bayoumi, former assistant minister of foreign affairs. speaking at the American University in Cairo.
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