By Gamal Essam El-Din William H Lash, US assistant secretary of commerce for market access and compliance, visited Cairo this week to discuss a possible US-Egypt FTA, Gamal Essam El-Din reports. Efforts aimed at establishing an FTA (free trade agreement) between Egypt and the US have gained new momentum this week. William Lash visited Cairo on Saturday to hold free trade talks with Youssef Boutros-Ghali, minister of foreign trade, and Medhat Hassanein, minister of finance. In a press conference on Sunday Lash indicated that the US is interested in concluding an FTA with Egypt as part of US President George W Bush's strategic initiative for boosting economic opportunities and liberalisation in the Middle East. "A US-Egypt FTA will enable Egyptian companies to have free access to US markets without customs, and thus open greater opportunities for Egyptian exports," Lash said. He added that "the US is working closely with Egyptian officials towards meeting the challenges that still hamper the realisation of this hoped FTA." According to him, the value of US investments in Egypt totals $4 billion and the proposed FTA would boost this volume to higher levels. Lash also stated that the US-Egypt Business Council will meet in Washington on 14 July to review possible challenges in detail. Several Egyptian practices have been cited by Lash as impediments to an FTA with the US. Lash said there must be serious tax and customs reforms, stiffer protection of intellectual property rights (especially for US pharmaceutical industries), improvements in the regulatory climate in the areas of investment and procurement and an overall increase in liberalisation and privatisation. Lash also explained that Israel and Egypt have not yet reached a consensus on the QIZ (qualified industrial zones) which is an important step towards concluding an FTA with America. "Egypt and Israel have to work out some details of this QIZ and reach an agreement," Lash said. Lash stressed that property rights of pharmaceutical companies must be respected. Under WTO regulations, information on a certain drug research and innovation must be kept confidential. "The problem is that some valuable data is transferred through the Health Ministry to domestic producers, both private and public sectors, and this violates the intellectual property rights of US pharmaceutical companies," Lash said. Lash's visit to Cairo also included meetings with representatives of 60 Egyptian companies embarking on business ventures and reconstruction works in Iraq. "The US is interested in awarding contracts to Egyptian firms to help in reconstruction efforts in Iraq," Lash said.
