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Egypt, Israel Expand Economic Ties

(Al-Monitor) Mohamed Sabry - Egypt and Israel held talks on March 31 to discuss ways of expanding their economic and trade relations, in the latest sign of warming ties between Cairo and Jerusalem. In 2021, bilateral trade between Egypt and Israel reached $330 million a year, an increase of 63% from 2020. Israel's Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivai said new measures will help double bilateral trade to $700 million within three years. The Qualified Industrial Zone (QIZ) program established by the U.S., which came into force in 2005, allows products jointly manufactured by Egypt and Israel duty-free entry into the U.S., provided that Israeli components represent 11.7% of these products. There are 1,124 companies registered under the QIZ protocol as of February 2022, the vast majority of which produce textiles (80%). Exports under the QIZ protocol hit $1.2 billion in 2021 and made up 37% of Egypt's total exports to the U.S. Tarek Fahmi, a professor of political science at Cairo University, thinks the current momentum in Egyptian-Israeli relations was triggered by the recent U.S.-sponsored normalization deals. "Egypt and Israel seek to deliver a message through this cooperation that their relations are solid and are expanding." However, while many Egyptians are not averse to trade with Israel, the Egyptian public is wary of deepening ties with the Jewish state.
2022-04-07 00:00:00
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