Talking trade
Reform topped Egypt's diplomatic agenda this week, reports Rasha Saad
President Hosni Mubarak's visits to Turkey and the Gulf this week came amidst a flurry of speculation regarding a new US initiative for a more democratic Middle East. The Greater Middle East initiative is a joint American-European plan to reform the region and integrate it under a Western security umbrella.
Speculation was rife that Mubarak's Ankara visit -- his first since 1998 -- was meant to probe the Turkish government's views on the initiative. Mubarak is concerned, observers said, about Egypt's role in the Middle East, as well as a shift in Washington's attention towards Turkey as part of the US's efforts to redraw the regional map.
Egyptian political analysts warned that the initiative could provide a mechanism for Washington to meddle in Arab countries' internal affairs, rearranging the region based on its own interests. According to the parts of the plan that have already been announced, Western nations would offer to expand political engagement, increase aid, and facilitate membership in the World Trade Organisation, as incentives for countries to cooperate.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said that despite some of the US plan's positive points, "it does not deal with the main problem [the Palestinian issue] which is at the root of all the other problems in the region." It was time "to settle the conflict," he said, "put an end to the Israeli occupation, and give the people of the region a chance to live in peace and security."
In Ankara, Mubarak explored possible avenues by which Turkey and Egypt could cooperate towards opening new channels for regional peace. According to informed sources, Mubarak wants to use Turkey's strategic relations with Israel to find solutions to various regional conflicts. Analysts said the fact that Turkey has very warm relations with Israel and has recently forged closer ties with Syria offers new prospects for Turkish mediation between Israel and Syria.
In Oman and the United Arab Emirates, Mubarak discussed the idea of reforming the Arab world from within. Informed sources said that Egypt's sceptical reaction to the new US initiative made discussions of Arab League reforms more crucial than ever -- especially in light of the upcoming Arab summit in March
According to Hani Riad, Egypt's ambassador to Muscat, Oman has decided to support the Egyptian initiative to reform the league. "The Omanis will take these ideas to the Gulf Cooperation Council's meeting in Riyadh, and will support Mubarak's call for the establishment of a common Arab market."
Boosting bilateral trade between Egypt and both Gulf countries visited by Mubarak this week was also high up on the president's agenda. An Egyptian-Omani bilateral committee headed by the two nations' foreign ministers will meet in Cairo over the coming months, and an Egyptian furniture fair is scheduled to take place in Oman.
The committee will also include businessmen from both sides. Trade between Egypt and Oman currently stands at around $35 million per year, "a level which does not really show the true capacity for economic exchange that should exist between the two countries," Riad said.
Maher, meanwhile, attended a meeting of an Egyptian-Kuwaiti committee in Kuwait on Monday. The committee discussed means to increase investments in both countries. During his visit, Maher stressed that the "coming summit will be a crossroads between two phases in common Arab economic and trade cooperation."
C a p t i o n : Mubarak during talks with Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (l) and with Oman's Sultan Qaboos
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 19 - 24 February 2004 (Issue No. 678)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/678/eg1.htm