Egyptian-Tunisian trade to double in three years to $200 million

Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif will deliver a message from President Hosni Mubarak to his Tunisian counterpart Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on the latest developments on the Palestinian and Iraqi arenas as well as the bilateral cooperation in the economic and investment domains.

Meantime, meetings of the Egyptian-Tunisian committee will open in the Tunisian capital, Tunis Wednesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and his Tunisian counterpart Mohamed al-Ghannouchi.

The meetings will tackle upping the volume of trade and investments between the two countries, along with removing obstacles impeding trade exchange and setting up joint ventures. The committee's Preparatory meetings are to be held Monday. Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul-Naga and Tunisian Minister of State Felah Al-Gamal are to chair the meetings.

Yemeni Felfelah, a member of the joint Egyptian-Tunisian committee, said the committee will probe signing an agreement to promote trade exchange without any restraints which would contribute to liberalizing trade.

Per the agreement, the Egyptian-Tunisian volume of trade exchange would double in less than three years, Felfelah said, in turn the number of joint ventures would increase, he added.

In 1997, the volume of trade between Egypt and Tunisia was $19 million. In 2004, the Egyptian-Tunisian volume of trade hit $ 100 million, including $ 65 Egyptian exports and $ 35 Tunisian exports.