Egypt, U.S. Consider Free Trade Talks
Sunday January 16, 2005
Here's a story I've heard absolutely nothing about in the North American media. From the English edition of Aljazeera:
"The United States and Egypt are studying the possibility of opening talks for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2005, a U.S. Trade Representative release said.
Nabil Fahmy, the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States said that his government considers the FTA talks as a way to promote reforms and boost economic growth.
Speaking at a seminar in Washington on trade and investment in the Middle East last week, Mr. Fahmy said: "Unless we can grow at 7-8 percent a year, we will not achieve our own developmental requirements. That requires us to pursue liberalized reform policies". "One of the main reasons why we are interested in an FTA is frankly to generate and energize our own reform process back home."
"We will be very interested in listening very closely this year to our American counterparts to see how far we can go with this and how soon we can get started," Fahmy said."
I hope there is something to this. Lowering trade barriers to the Middle East and Africa is badly needed, as it will serve to both improve the economies of those countries and as to act as a liberalizing force in that area of the world.
More information on free trade and globalization:
1. Does Freer Trade Mean Lower Environmental Standards?
2. Why Are Tariffs Preferable to Quotas?
3. The Economic Effect of Tariffs
In other news Chapter 9 of Conte and Carr's Outline of the U.S. Economy is now on the site:
CHAPTER 9: Labor in America: The Worker's Role
1. American Labor History
2. Labor Standards in America
3. Pensions in the United States
4. Unemployment Insurance in the United States
5. The Labor Movement's Early Years
6. The Great Depression and Labor
7. Post-War Victories for Labor
8. The 1980s and 1990s: The End of Paternalism in Labor
9. The New American Work Force
10. Diversity in the Workplace
11. Labor Cost-Cutting in the 1990s
12. The Decline of Union Power
"The United States and Egypt are studying the possibility of opening talks for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2005, a U.S. Trade Representative release said.
Nabil Fahmy, the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States said that his government considers the FTA talks as a way to promote reforms and boost economic growth.
Speaking at a seminar in Washington on trade and investment in the Middle East last week, Mr. Fahmy said: "Unless we can grow at 7-8 percent a year, we will not achieve our own developmental requirements. That requires us to pursue liberalized reform policies". "One of the main reasons why we are interested in an FTA is frankly to generate and energize our own reform process back home."
"We will be very interested in listening very closely this year to our American counterparts to see how far we can go with this and how soon we can get started," Fahmy said."
I hope there is something to this. Lowering trade barriers to the Middle East and Africa is badly needed, as it will serve to both improve the economies of those countries and as to act as a liberalizing force in that area of the world.
More information on free trade and globalization:
1. Does Freer Trade Mean Lower Environmental Standards?
2. Why Are Tariffs Preferable to Quotas?
3. The Economic Effect of Tariffs
In other news Chapter 9 of Conte and Carr's Outline of the U.S. Economy is now on the site:
CHAPTER 9: Labor in America: The Worker's Role
1. American Labor History
2. Labor Standards in America
3. Pensions in the United States
4. Unemployment Insurance in the United States
5. The Labor Movement's Early Years
6. The Great Depression and Labor
7. Post-War Victories for Labor
8. The 1980s and 1990s: The End of Paternalism in Labor
9. The New American Work Force
10. Diversity in the Workplace
11. Labor Cost-Cutting in the 1990s
12. The Decline of Union Power
Comments
No comments yet. Leave a Comment