Egyptian - Iraqi committee to meet next month

The meetings of the Egyptian - Iraqi joint trade committee are to be held in mid-September in Cairo, under the chairmanship of Egyptian Minister of Trade and Supply Ahmed Goweili and his Iraqi counterpart, Mohammed Mahdi Saleh.

The committee is to discuss the possibility of increasing trade exchange and determine the questions concerning the fair for Egyptian products, which stopped during the current year, only one year after this fair was agreed upon.

Meanwhile, Egypt is currently discussing the possibility of supplying Iraqi factories with spare parts for planes, upgrading electronic systems and other cooperation aspects.

The Egyptian holding company for food industries affiliated to the Ministry of Public Enterprise obtained on July 11, 1999 a contract to export 3,000 tons vegetarian ghee to Iraq, valued at 80 million pounds ($23.5 million) in light of the sixth phase of the oil-for-food program. This was the second contract to be endorsed between Iraq and the Egyptian holding company.

Meanwhile, an Egyptian delegation representing eight Egyptian medicine companies sought to obtain contracts to export medicine to Iraq.