Egyptian authorities recently revealed that Egypt would soon begin exporting automobiles to Iraq, effectively taking advantage of the Free Trade Agreement signed between the two countries. He added that Egypt is presently awaiting approval from the UN 661 Committee to regarding a number of previously signed accords with Iraq under the Oil-for-Food program.
Egypt, Hashim noted, ranked first in the Arab world, and second worldwide, in terms of the value of commercial contracts signed with Iraq based on the UN agreement. Earlier this year, Egypt announced plans to sell 300 buses to Iraq under the program.
The agreement, signed this past January 2001 and executed in mid-August, removes all trade barriers between Egypt and Iraq, thus providing significant economic incentives for trade, according to Al-Bayan daily.
Head of the Egyptian Commerce Center in Iraq, Awni Hashim, stated in addition to introducing Egyptian vehicles to Iraq, Egypt hoped to expand the volume of exchanges with Iraq to total three billion dollars a year. — (Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
