Syria and Egypt to lift customs barriers

The Syrian - Egyptian joint high committee will meet in Damascus under the chairmanship of the two states' prime ministers before the end of the current year to discuss signing an agreement to establish a free trade zone between the two states.

Economic sources in the Egyptian embassy in Damascus said the technical committees in the two states are discussing the framework of the agreement according to which the customs barriers will be reduced by 30% during the next five years.

The sources added that the two states exchanged equal amounts of goods worth $200 million each. The sources said that the volume of the commercial exchange between the two states increased from 93 million Egyptian pounds in 1991 to LE 240 million in 1996.

Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Muhammad al-Imadi said Thursday on the sidelines of the meetings of the Arab League social and economic council in Cairo that the joint committee signed several agreements in the areas of trade, ensuring investments, social affairs, water, agriculture, industry and in main fields of cooperation.

He added that economic and trade relations between the two states are proceeding well, saying, "We work to increase the volume of trade exchange so as to meet our ambitions in Syria and Egypt."