Ministerial meeting for protecting Egypt's interest in World Trade liberalization issues
Egyptian President Mubarak presided over an expanded ministerial meeting during which a number of working papers relating to Egyptian negotiating stance towards issues tabled on the agenda of the World Trade Organization for deregulating world trade and ways of protecting Egyptian interests.
Minister of Information Safwat AL Sherif said following the meeting that another working paper was discussed on preparation for the Fourth Ministerial meeting of the Organization which will be held in Doha next November.
President Mubarak asserted that working papers should lay emphasis on multi-party framework in foreign trade in its capacity as these are the proper framework for developing countries topped by Egypt.
El Sherif noted that President Mubarak supported Egyptian negotiating stance in the underway negotiations at the World Trade Organization in Geneva on the fields of agriculture and services.
AL Sherif said the working papers illustrated the Egyptian negotiating stance in the following fields:
- Supporting Egyptian agricultural products and commodities with the aim of enhancing Egypt's opportunities in exportation competitiveness.
-Combating dumping in order to protect Egyptian interests and to maintain pricing balance of Egyptian domestic commodities.
- Measures related to producing agricultural crops and observing well-known international criteria in the exportation and importation of these commodities.
- Intellectual property laws which protects patent and their applications to developing countries mainly Egypt.
El Sherif said President Mubarak asked for a meeting tonight by the working group under Dr. Ebeid for completing development of the Egyptian working papers in the framework of points and views which were discussed in this respect with the aim of specifying the Egyptian negotiating stance.
He said the Egyptian working papers are seeking to find solutions to the problems faced by developing countries including Egypt, in the light of applying Uruguay Agreements signed in 1995 and the resultant distortions and imbalance which should be corrected.