WASHINGTON, 17 March 2007 — US exports to Arab nations are forecast to reach a record $45 billion in 2007, shattering the previous high set last year, according to a report released on Thursday.
“We are charting new territory in America’s trade relations with the Arab world,” David Hamod, president of the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. US exports to 22 Arab countries increased 28 percent in 2006 to a record $35 billion, with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia accounting for more than half of the total.
Sales vary by country, but “cyclical demand for big-ticket items is on the upswing, including civilian aircraft, military systems and border security systems,” the report said.
“The region’s consumer market is also helping to drive up US export sales. Arab consumers have more disposable income than ever, and American products continue to carry significant cachet,” the report said.
High oil prices boosted the Arab world’s buying power at the same time a declining US dollar made American goods more competitive, according to the report, which was prepared by the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy.
Those factors helped US exports to the Arab world grow rapidly, despite widespread criticism of US policies in Iraq and frequent calls to boycott American products. Despite the forecast for US exports to the region to expand nearly 30 percent this year, the Iraq war is just one of many “storm clouds” on the horizon, the report said.
Many Arab business leaders, feeling less welcome in the US since Sept. 11, have taken money out of US and invested it closer to home, the report said. More than 50 percent of investment flows within the region come from other Arab countries, the report said.
There are signs that US free trade pacts with Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain and Oman are generating increased commerce. Trade between the four countries and the US grew 32 percent in 2006, compared to 24 percent for other Arab countries.
