WASHINGTON, 9 October 2004 — US business leaders Thursday gathered in support of a proposed US-Middle East Free Trade Area at a lunch forum sponsored by the newly formed US-Middle East Free Trade Coalition. In an address to the group, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick outlined the progress that has already been made through bilateral trade agreements in the region, and how a US-Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA) will benefit the US economy, enhance Mideast economies and strengthen American relations in the Middle East.
“Last year, President Bush outlined a country by country effort to achieve a Middle East Free Trade Area. With the hand of US economic partnership, the United States will embrace and encourage reformers across the region,” said Zoellick. “The MEFTA is a strategy for engagement that will help nations build free, dynamic benefits for the US economy. Furthermore, the 9/11 commission urged the United States to expand trade with the Middle East and highlighted the recently concluded FTA (Free Trade Agreement) with Bahrain, as well as our recently passed FTA with Morocco as examples of positive steps in this direction.
Two Washington-based trade organizations, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), have formed the Coalition to aggressively support Zoellick’s effort.
“This is a bold initiative that will significantly boost the economic interest of the United States,” said Bill Reinsch, president of the NFTC. “The American business community has a vital stake in strengthening economic ties with countries in the Middle East.”
Jeffrey Donald, vice president of BCIU, seconds this view. “Establishing a free trade framework between the US and Middle East will encourage economic development, and transparent and accountable governance, while greatly enhancing long-term prospects for the people of the Middle East.”
Donald said the newly-created US-Middle East Free Trade Coalition has four key objectives: Supporting commercially meaningful free trade agreements between the United States and the governments of the Middle East; providing US business commitment to the MEFTA vision; establishing an umbrella business group to advance MEEFTA through education, advocacy and outreach; and leading bilateral FTA business coalition efforts with Middle Eastern countries.
“A vibrant and renewed Middle is possible if we reach out and help,” said Zoellick. “But it think it must be understood that the US has no intention of going in and dictating what a country has to do. We have to listen and offer a country the tools to initiate reforms. Trade and economics will not solve all the problems in the Middle East, but they will create conditions that will promote trade and progress.”
