Egypt, Eurasian in free trade talks
News & Trends •
source63 egypt and the eurasian economic union eaeu are going to hold the first round of negotiations on trade agreement in mid- january in cairo1 the document was signed by egypts minister of trade and industry amr nassar and minister for trade of the eurasian economic commission veronika nikishina1 the egyptian minister noted that this agreement came as a result of president abdel fatah al-sisis visit to russia in october where he agreed with chairman of the eurasian economic commission tigran sargsyan on speeding up the negotiations related to the free trade between both sides1 according to nassar both sides agreed to hold a joint business forum during the first half of 2019 to boost the economic and trade partnership between businessmen of both sides and stressed on the necessity to complete a free trade agreement between egypt and the unions countries in 20191 nassar said that the document targets to generate continued talks and negotiations about the bilateral economic and international cooperation between both sides and to enhance the economic and trade relationship as well as the liberalization of trade between them through the establishment of a long-term and stable institutional legal framework1 he explained that agreement will contribute to the enhancement and development of the joint relations between egypt and the eurasian countries including russia belarus kazakhstan armenia and kyrgyzstan1 the minister pointed out that egypt is a major hub for the unions exports to various african and arab markets and other economic blocswith which egypt has free trade agreements1 they had signed a framework document for negotiations on the free trade agreement1 trade exchange between egypt and eurasian union countries hit 6.78 billion in 2017 in which 6.24 billion represented egypts imports and 544.7 million went for exports according to the minister1 nassar said that this agreement is expected to raise the trade volume between both sides to reach 15.7 billion and to upgrade egypts exports to the unions countries to 1.9 billion1 the minister referred that the most important egyptian exports to eurasian countries are agricultural commodities machinery equipment and pharmaceutical products while the main imports to egypt include wheat minerals chemical products plastic products cars and tractors1 he reiterated the need to encourage the business community and industrial companies from the eurasian countries to increase their investments in egypt during the coming period especially in light of the egyptian governments adoption of a number of mega projects including the new administrative capital projectthe development project of the suez canal and the russian industrial zone in egypt1 nassar also emphasized the importance of the role played by the private sector in enhancing trade and investment relations between egypt and the unions countries1 for her part nikishina said that egypt is one of the most important markets in the middle east and africa and is a focal point for the transit of the products of the union countries to african countries1 she pointed out that the next phase will witness more cooperation between the two sides especially after the signing of the free trade agreement which will make a quantum leap in the level of trade and economic relations between egypt and the eurasian union1 the eurasian countries also represent a distinct window for egyptian exports in north and central asia as well as europe1