(Reuters/MSNBC)- Egyptian businessmen have approached Israel on setting up joint venture economic zones in Egypt in what Israel's ambassador to Cairo said on Thursday was a slight warming of ties between the two states. Eli Shaked said the idea of such zones was raised in talks between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on Wednesday. The zones would benefit from an Israeli-U.S. trade pact. Shaked said textile plants would be set up in Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs), which already operate in Jordan. ''A couple of months ago...the Egyptian authorities gave the green light to the Egyptian businessmen to start searching for this idea of QIZ,'' he said. An Israeli-owned textile firm, Delta Egypt, is already working successfully and exporting, including to Britain's Marks & Spencer.
2003-12-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive