RIYADH, 10 January — Economic issues dominated the agenda of the Saudi-Egyptian Joint Commission meeting which opened here yesterday. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, who chaired the Saudi side, said the papers presented at the meeting reflected the strong desire of the two countries to expand cooperation in all areas.
Prince Saud said the establishment of a free trade zone between Saudi Arabia and Egypt would be a major step toward forging Arab economic integration. He said a special committee was looking into the proposal for a free trade zone and hoped that the two countries would soon reach an agreement on this vital issue.
Referring to complaints raised by the Egyptian industrialists alleged dumping of Saudi products in their country's markets, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mousa said such minor issued could be solved through talks between officials and businessmen. "These problems are quite natural when economic dealings between the two sides increase. We are now trying to achieve economic integration and consequently these problems can be overcome," he added.
Prince Saud said the meeting had received a report from the Saudi-Egyptian Business Council on the dumping issue. He stressed the role of the council in solving such problems as well as other obstacles facing bilateral trade. There should be a mechanism to remove problems that stand in the way of bilateral trade, he said.
The Saudi foreign minister said the Kingdom was not following any protectionist policy to support its products and promote exports. He said the Kingdom's foreign trade totaled SR300 billion in 1999.
Muhammad Abdul Fattah Al-Masri, deputy chairman of the Egyptian Chambers Federation, told Arab News that his country was reducing imports as part of efforts to curb the effects of an increase in the value of US dollar against Egyptian pound. The measure, he said, was taken due to a liquidity crisis, which will reduce not only the imports from Saudi Arabia but also from other countries.
Al-Masri said the free trade zone would require unification of standards followed by the two countries. He said every company has the right as per WTO agreements to protect their rights and check dumping by foreign companies. He said Cairo had received assurances that Saudi Arabia would lift its ban on Egyptian potato exports. He said there was an agreement to open offices of businessmen from both countries at their capitals.
