Volume of inter- Arab trade increases, remains well bellow aspirations

The United Arab report which was issued by the " Arab Monetary Fund" indicated that the absence of transparency and trade information and facilities in taxation and non- customs restrictions between the Arab states, are among the main obstacles which prevent the actual implementation of the Arab free trade area.

The report said that the hope is pinned on the sector of Arab services in order to increase the inter- Arab trade rate, as actual data for 2000 showed that the participation of this sector to the inter- Arab trade is far more than the contributions of other commodity sectors.

The report said that the value of inter- Arab trade ( inter Arab exports, inter- Arab imports) reached according preliminary estimated for 2000 some USD 33.5 billion, in comparison to USD 27.7 billion in 1999, representing an increase of 20.9%.

It should be noted that the volume of Arab-inter trade at about 8% of total trade remains very low compared to other regional economic blocs such as the advanced European Market or the less developed Asian countries which have been able to increase their inter-Asian trade to about 35% of their total trade.