United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohammed Rachid have signed an agreement that will lead to closer economic ties between the two countries and could lay the groundwork for a future free trade agreement.
Kirk met Rachid in Washington on May 27 where the pair put their signatures to a Plan for a Strategic Partnership, which aims to further promote bilateral economic cooperation. The plan instructs senior officials in both governments to develop a framework over the next 90 days for cooperation in a number of trade and investment areas.
According to the document signed by the two men, the ultimate objective of the partnership is to “deepen and broaden trade and investment relations between the United States and Egypt, including through identifying and working to remove impediments to trade and investment between the two countries.”
“In the months ahead, we have dedicated ourselves to pursuing a program of intensified US-Egyptian cooperation on economic, trade, and investment issues,” Kirk and Rachid said in a joint statement.
The statement also officially recognized the designation earlier this year, in cooperation with Israel, of two additional Qualifying Industrial Zones in Upper Egypt.
“The expansion of the QIZ program in Egypt to the new zones of Beni Suief and Al Minya is another indication of our desire to strengthen US trade relations with the region,” Kirk and Rachid stated.
Egypt’s Qualifying Industrial Zones are designated geographic areas that enjoy duty free trade with the United States, provided that they satisfy the agreed upon ‘Israeli component' rules under pre-defined rules of origin.
The QIZs began operating in early 2005 in 7 designated industrial locations in Egypt. Starting with an initial 397 qualified companies, the QIZs have rapidly expanded to encompass over 15 currently designated industrial zones, with nearly 700 qualified companies, amounting to more than USD1bn annual revenues.
Egypt's QIZs offer companies ease of access to US markets, quota-free trading and exemption from tariff and non-tariff barriers.
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