Egypt and Israel are to lower the
threshold of Israeli components required in Egyptian products for them
to be exported to the United States duty-free, an Israeli official said
Tuesday.
The deal aimed at boosting exports from so-called Qualifying
Industrial Zones (QIZ) is to be inked by Egyptian trade minister Rashid
Mohammed Rashid, during a visit to Cairo the same day by his Israeli
counterpart Eli Yishai.
"There is an agreement to reduce the proportion of Israeli
components from 11.7 percent to 10.5 percent," Israeli embassy
spokeswoman Shani Cooper-Zubida said.
Goods from a QIZ, several of which exist in Egypt and Jordan since
the US Congress authorized them in 1996, can enter the United States
duty-free, provided they contain Israeli components.
Egypt and Jordan are the only-two Arab states to have signed a peace deal with Israel.
The two sides will also sign and send a letter to US authorities
requesting the designation of eight new QIZ areas in Upper Egypt, the
south of the country, Cooper-Zubida said.
Most products exported from Egyptian QIZ factories are textiles.
Yishai, a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, who is also
Israeli deputy prime minister, is also due to meet Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak later Tuesday.
Source : Middle East Times
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