The Egyptian Ministry of Economy and Foreign Commerce recently confirmed its commitment to increasing national exports to Iraq by $2 billion in 2001 Al Bayan reported. Minister of Economy Botrous Ghali, expects a noticeable boost in Iraqi-Egyptian trade in the near future due to the bilateral free trade agreement that was signed on January 18 of this year. The report also revealed that Iraq and Egypt have commenced intensive talks to set up joint commercial projects.
The free trade agreement between Iraq and Egypt, which calls for the end to all customs barriers between the two countries have greatly improved over the past two years. Trade within the UN's oil-for-food program stands at some two billion dollars a year, and Egypt is currently Baghdad's third-largest trade partner behind France and Russia. (Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
