17/06/2000
Al-Alam Alyom Newspaper 2000/JUNE /17
Negotiations have been going on concerning the signing of the Egyptian European Partnership Agreement. Ambassador Gamal Bayoumi and Dr. Nader Riad shed light on some of its main items, have their say in this regard, and try to answer some of the questions raised by the media concerning this document. They look positively at this Partnership. However, they stress that benefits will not come at once and that Egypt will have to make many efforts to fully reap the fruits of this Partnership. (Available in Arabic – German in PDF )
Recently, the negotiations for the Egyptian European Partnership Agreement have been very much in the spotlight in Egypt. Questions have been raised about the advantages of this Agreement. Ambassador Gamal Bayoumi sheds light on the main items of this document after outlining the historical background of Egyptian-European relations. Among the main items of this paper is a reduction of customs duties for Egyptian exports to Europe, industrial liberalization, free movement of capital and agricultural subsidies. Another very significant issue is EU financial support for Egypt, as Cairo, according to Mr. Bayoumi, is the country getting the lion’s share of this aid among the EU’s Mediterranean partners. As for industry, Dr. Nader Riad believes Egypt can fully benefit from this Partnership with the EU, but only if Egyptian manpower is properly qualified and the Egyptian industry in general is updated. Questions have been raised about why the Egyptian government has not yet shown the draft of the Partnership Agreement to the people or the People’s Assembly, thus feeding rumors on the press.