Ministerial delegation in Baghdad for boosting economic ties
Iraq-Egypt, Economics, 2/19/2001

Egypt's Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Youssef Boutros Ghali arrived in Baghdad late Sunday on a private plane leading a delegation including Minister of Public Enterprises Sector Mokhtar khattab and a number of Egyptian businessmen.

On arrival, Ghali said the visit is the first since the singing of the free trade zone agreement between the two countries and aims at activating the agreement and promoting bilateral relations in all fields.

Ghali put the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Iraq at more than $ one billion, adding it would scale up to $ two billion by the end of this year.

Khattab underlined, on his part, that Egyptian-Iraqi relations are proceeding fastly in all domains towards building an integrated economy that would be an example for Arab economic integration.

"Making Egypt and Iraq a one market is a major step in activating joint Arab action in light of the two countries' economic weight," said Saleh.

He asserted that Egypt ranks first among Arab countries with respect to trade deals with Iraq.

Meanwhile, Mortada reaffirmed Iraq's desire to further cooperation with Egypt in the fields of railways, seaports and land, maritime and air transportation.

During a meeting with Egyptian Transport Ministry First Under Secretary Mohamed Talat Mortada said Iraq signed, under the oil-for-food programme, 39 contracts worth $157 million with Egyptian companies to supply car and transport commodities.

He underlined the importance of increasing Egyptian flights to Iraq, adding that 12 Egyptian flights have landed in Baghdad since the re-operation of Saddam international airport in August.

The Egyptian official, on his part, expressed readiness by Egyptian companies to cooperate with Iraq in all fields.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt - Iraq joint trade zone promotes economic, industrial relations   (1/20/2001)
  Egypt, Iraq sign agricultural cooperation program   (1/20/2001)

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