AmCham: Door Knocking mission outlined US-Egypt free trade deal scenario

The American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo’s this year Door-Knocking delegation to Washington has presented for the first time a scenario about signing an Egypt-U.S. free trade agreement, a proposal which has been stalled over the past years.

Omar Muhanna, head of the Egyptian side of the Egyptian-American Business Council and member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo, made these statements during the delegation’s concluding meetings in Washington.

The delegation has showcased the Jordanian experience, in which Jordan succeeded in signing a free trade agreement with Washington in 2001 after working according to the QIZ protocol, Muhanna said.

He pointed out that the delegation offered during this visit to follow the Jordanian experience as a model for reaching a successful free trade agreement between Cairo and Washington.

As for the QIZ protocol, the Egyptian side requested that the component of the Israeli partner in this protocol would be reduced from 10.5 percent to 8.5percent.Muhanna said that the US had welcomed the Egyptian proposal but conditioned Israel’s approval first, as being a key party in this protocol.