Egyptian industry credit to all Arabs

Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan hailed progress of the Egyptian-industry, which he described as a credit to all Arabs, expressing his country's hope for boosting cooperation with Egypt in various fields.

In statements to Middle East News Agency on Wednesday on the sidelines of his tour of the 10th of Ramadan City, Ramadan said that the Egyptian industry has made progress similar to what has been achieved in the advanced countries.

The Iraqi Official said that the Egyptian-Iraqi relations were witnessing mounting progress, citing the signing of a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries in Cairo on Tuesday.

He noted that bilateral agreements between the Arab countries could be an encouraging start for the establishment of a unified Arab market.

The Iraqi official said that his talks with Dr. Atef Ebeid dealt with achieving integration between Egypt and Iraq, especially in the field of construction and technical experience.

Ramadan's visit is the first of its kind on this level in 10 years. The visit reflects growing progress in political and economic relations between Cairo and Baghdad, where trade exchange between the two countries amounted to some $ 0.5 billion in 1999 and scared to one billion in 2000. It is expected to amount to 2 billion by the end of this year.