Why Egypt is moving forward on free trade
Experts consider Egypt's recent actions supporting the Agadir Agreement significant, as Egypt has the largest market among the free-trade agreement's member countries, which will enjoy greater trade and investment opportunities with the help of Egyptian labor and investment opportunities.
CAIRO — Work is underway to revive the Agadir Agreement on free trade, which has struggled to produce significant results for its members in recent years.
The original pact members — Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and Morocco — also welcomed Lebanon and Palestine to the group in April 2016. The agreement is designed to expedite trade among the members and improve their connections with European markets. Other Arab League countries also are welcome to join.
Fakhri al-Hazaimeh is executive president of the Agadir Technical Unit (ATU), which is tasked with following up on the agreement's implementation and providing technical and research support. Hazaimeh met March 5 in Jordan with an EU delegation to update them on plans for the agreement. On March 8, the ATU released a guide for members on anti-dumping measures that also contains reference materials to support the agreement. On March 12, the unit released an export and import measures guide for members.
Farag Abdel Fattah, an economics professor at Cairo University who spoke with Al-Monitor, noted the ATU’s flurry of activity came immediately after Egypt finally ratified its accession to the agreement. Egypt is the largest market among the Agadir member states.
