Meetings conclude for Arab representatives on European partnership

The round table meetings of leaders and representatives of Arab negotiating bodies for the European partnership concluded today at the headquarters of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The meetings are headed by ambassador Gamal Bayoumi, the Egyptian foreign minister's assistant for European participation.

The meeting comprised representatives of Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Syria, Palestinian, Libya, Lebanon, Mauritania and Egypt, in addition to representatives from the Arab League, the Arab Economic Unity Council and the United Nations Development Program.

After the session, Bayoumi said that the meeting tackled four main issues, including the establishment of a united Arab resource base for Arab industries, establishing an Arab free trade zone, establishing a European - Egyptian free trade zone and establishing bilateral free trade zones.

He also added that the meeting called for exchanging experiences within the context of mutual interests between the Arab states for developing inter-Arab trade exchange, achieving Arab industrial integration, and establishing a comprehensive Arab perception concerning resources.

Moreover the representatives of the European Union, including the EU's ambassador in Cairo, Christian Falkofeski, participated in the round table discussion, which tackled the effects of the resource base on industrial integration and trade developments between the Arab - Mediterranean countries within the context of the Euro-Mediterranean free trade zones as well as an open discussion dealing with the political and intellectual framework for establishing a free trade zone.