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Egypt trade deal with Israel stirs debate
From the Rantburg Industry & Trade Desk: Egypt's coming trade agreement with Israel and the United States is stirring a debate in Egypt, with business executives saying it could create 250,000 jobs in a year and politicians saying it favors Israel. As part of an accord scheduled to be signed Tuesday in Cairo, goods produced in certain areas in Egypt with a minimum Israeli content will gain tariff-free access to the United States. The deal is one of several moves that signal hopes of reviving the Mideast peace process after the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat last month. The secretary-general of Egypt's Ready-Made Garment Exporters Association, Magdy Tolba, and the vice chairman of the Chamber of Textile Industries, Mohammed Kassim, said the agreement should give such a boost to clothing manufacturers that they will hire 200,000 to 300,000 workers in the first 12 months after it is implemented early next year. Tolba forecasts Egypt's garment exports to America will jump from the current $560 million a year to at least $1 billion by the end of 2005. The job-creation predictions are dismissed as wildly exaggerated by Rifaat el-Said, the leader of the opposition party Tagammu, and by a former economic minister, Moustafa el-Said. The two are not related. If it would create 250,000 jobs, "I would sign the agreement," said Rifaat el-Said, whose left-wing party opposes Egypt's diplomatic relations with Israel until there is Posted by: Seafarious 2004-12-13 |
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