By: Mohamed Mowafy
Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Commercial Service Office (ECS) is looking to improve the access of Egyptian exports to foreign markets as part of the country’s approach towards enhancing the competitiveness of its exports, ECS’ head Ahmed Antar said.
QIZ protocol
In the last period, the ECS managed to increase the Egyptian exports to the US under the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) protocol, Antar said in an interview with Mubasher.
The Egyptian garment exports to the US, which are exempt from customs duties, increased by 17%, he added.
From January to July, the Egyptian exports to the US under the QIZ protocol went up by 14.3%, registering $586.8 million from $513.2 million in the prior-year period, he revealed.
In 2018, Egypt’s textile exports accounted for $1 billion out of the total $2.5 billion worth of the country’s exports to the US market, he remarked, adding that during the first six months of 2019, the North African nation’s textile exports hiked to $1.5 billion from $1.1 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Antar said that there are negotiations with the US to lift protectionist tariffs on the Egyptian exports of iron and steel which stood at $100 million in 2018.
The ECS aims to increase the Egyptian exports by 5% annually to the US market, with a special focus on textiles, plastics, vegetables, fruits, and fertilizers, he pointed out.
Moreover, the most populous Arab nation’s exports under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) surged by 112.1% to $112.3 million during H1-19 from $52.9 million in H1-18.
During FY18/19, 1,308 export opportunities have been provided with a value of $334 million, he revealed.
Trade war
Furthermore, the ECS has set a plan to benefit from the trade conflict between the US and China by taking part of the market share lost by the world’s two largest economies, Antar pointed out.
In 2018, Egypt’s exports to China recorded $1.8 billion, while imports from the Asian giant stood at $11 billion.
In addition, China’s Belt and Road Initiative will boost the volume of trade passing through the Suez Canal, he noted.
Eurasian Economic Union
By 8 October, Egypt will start a new round of talks with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to set up a free trade zone, Antar revealed.
The North African nation seeks to sign the final agreement with EAEU in order to open new markets for its exports.
Under the anticipated deal, the Egyptian exports will enjoy tariff-free access to Eurasian markets as part of Egypt’s plan to boost exports which grew by $30.2 billion, or 30.2%, to $55 billion from $24.8 billion.
The EAEU includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kygryzstan, and Belarus.
African markets
The head of ECS further revealed that African countries will announce a list of the top goods to be exempted from customs duties under the free trade agreement by January 2020.
In 2018, the Egyptian exports to African nations grew by 30% year-on-year to $4.7 billion from $3.6 billion a year earlier.
After the agreement comes into force, trade exchange between Egypt and African countries is expected to increase by 30%, Antar noted.
It is worth mentioning that 54 African countries have signed the agreement, while only 27 of which have ratified it.
