 |
| Investment Agreements |
Egypt has signed investment agreements with over 40 other countries, including Armenia, Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Libya, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Romania, Singapore, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom.
In addition to specific investment agreements, Egypt is also a signatory to a wide variety of agreements covering trade issues. In July 1999, Egypt and the United States signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) as a step toward creating freer trade and increasing investment flows between the U.S. and Egypt. In June 2001, Egypt signed an Association Agreement with the European Union. Egypt’s parliament ratified the agreement in March 2003, and it entered into force on June 1, 2004. The agreement provides for immediate duty free access of Egyptian products into EU markets, while duty free access for EU products will be phased in over a twelve-year period. In recent years Egypt has worked on reaching agreements with 11 Arab League members in connection with the Arab Common Market treaty of the 1960's. These agreements call for phasing out existing tariffs over a 10-year period, but all have long negative lists. In February 2004, Egypt signed a free trade agreement with Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.
The Aghadir Agreement, as it is known, commits the parties to removing substantially all tariffs on trade between them by January 1, 2006, and to intensifying economic cooperation, including by harmonizing their standards and customs procedures. Egypt joined the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in June 1998.
On December 14, 2004, Egypt and Israel signed an agreement to take advantage of the U.S. government Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) program. The purpose of the QIZ program is to promote stronger ties between the region's peace partners by granting duty-free access to goods produced in these special zones in Egypt and Jordan using a specified percentage of Israeli input. At present, almost 400 companies in seven QIZ's in Egypt have registered to export under this program. The industrial areas currently included in the QIZ program are Tenth of Ramadan, Fifteenth of May, South of Giza, Shobra El-Khema, Nassr City, El-AGAFImria, and Port Said. |
|
 |
|
|
