Trade Relations with the United States

The Egyptian Government places high value in its current negotiations with the U.S. In its preparations the Ministry has made arrangements for a series of meetings with Egyptian authorities. These meetings will influence the form of scheduled negotiations with the U.S. on the envisaged technical fundamentals of negotiating stages and topics of the free trade agreement. Several teleconferences have already taken place between Egyptian and U.S. officials on different topics including sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, intellectual property rights, and government procurement. These negotiations are expected to result in a free trade agreement similar to those concluded between the U.S. and Jordan, Canada, Mexico and Israel. This agreement is likely to promote Egyptian exports to the U.S., in addition to the prospect of improving access for Egyptian exports to the Mexican and Canadian markets via the U.S. market. The Ministry is also intent on enhancing cooperation under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), in addition to reinforcing the role of the presidential councils of the two countries.

Trade Relations with Mercosur

Mercosur, the Common Market of South American States, is composed of five member countries :Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and Venezuela ( Venezuela becama a member of Mercosue officially on 4 th of July) with a population of approximately 230 million. It represents a massive market the Egyptian exports are attempting to access in order to reduce deficit in the trade balance with its members, which registered around $705 million in 2003. In addition, approaching the Latin American countries as new markets constitutes a third stage goal of the Egyptian export promotion strategy, which focuses on a number of Egyptian commodities with considerable competitive advantage, both agricultural and industrial. These commodities are gaining greater access to Mercosur markets and include wooden furniture, marble, ceramics, cement, medicines, medicinal and aromatic plants, chemical and organic materials, cotton, rice, dried vegetables, tomatoes, potatoes and garlic. Click here to access the TAS Strategy for 2005-2006