Egypt to formally join African common market

Foreign minister Amr Moussa will head to Kinshasa, the capital of Congo, on Thursday to attend the fifth ministerial meeting of Common Market of East and South Africa COMESA countries.

Mohammed Shaban, Egypt's assistant foreign minister for African affairs, said before leaving for Kinshasa to join the preliminary meetings of the African economic group, that the Egyptian Cabinet agreed during its meeting in the middle of this week upon Egypt's joining this important association which will open fields for enhancing trade and investment relations between Egypt and the association's 19 countries within a free trade zone that comprises $250 billion annually. The volume of trade between the countries reached $2.5 billion and is expected to continue to increase.

He added that Egypt's joining the COMESA group will allow an increase in its exports to COMESA countries, where these exports will benefit from a reduction in customs duties that will reach 90% by the first of coming October and 100% by the year 2000. It will also help Egypt expand its agricultural, industrial and service exports, and establish joint companies with COMESA countries making use of the facilities and exemptions that are allowed for investors who establish projects in these countries.

Egypt will formally sign the agreement to join the COMESA group during the opening session of the COMESA summit.