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Egypt’s Social Capital and Arab Economic IntegrationTable (7-3)Contributon of Arabs in Subscribed Capitalto Established Companies till Decemer 2000SectorShare valueRatio to Total Arab Capital %Ratio to Sector Total investment %Industrial Co.3448258Agricultural Co.522412Construction Co.34225Tourism Co.33982512Funding Co.29692217Service Co.36535Free Zone Co.26661911Egyptian exports, especially as Egypt enjoysa strategic geographic location in the Arabregion. Inter-Arab trade is already supportedby several factors: the availability ofnon-exploited natural resources; the economicreforms and liberalization policies that havebeen carried out in most Arab countries; andthe implementation of trade agreements,such as the ‘Arab Free Trade Area’. Egypthas already signed four agreements toliberalize trade with other Arab countries.Trade between Egypt and the Arab countriesstill faces many obstacles, however. Forinstance, Egypt has not enjoyed anypreferential privileges in Arab markets untilrecently. In addition, difficulties withcross-border measures, the absence ofregular navigation lines, high shippingcosts, and the similarity of productionstructures in Arab countries, weaken thecomparative advantage of the Egyptianproducer and narrows inter-Arab tradeopportunities. Further, most Arab countrieslack an adequate economic database andstill need to reform and unify commercial,monetary and financial codes. Additionally,unstable economic and politicalcircumstances in the Middle East region, adecline in the price of oil, the variability ofexchange rates, fierce competition fromSouth East Asian countries and other fastgrowing economies, and the challengesimplied by world economic blocks, complicatethe situation even further.Nonetheless, part of the problem lies withthe Egyptian exporters themselves who stillhave insufficient experience of Arabmarkets despite their proximity, are usuallysmall and irregular exporters with a limitedexporting capability, and are not alwayscommitted to international standards.Egyptian-Arab Trade during the1990sArab trade with Egypt, as shown in Table(7.4), represents about 7 per cent of totalEgyptian foreign trade, and is characterizedby a fast growth. During the 1990s, Egypt’strade with Arab countries increased fromUS$484 million in 1990 to US$1474million in 1999. It is notable that the rate ofEnhancing trade in theArab region wouldresult in a new outletfor Egyptian exports.Table (7-4)Egypt’s Trade with selected Arab countries During the NinetiesYears199019941999CountryExportsImportsTotalExportsImportsTotalExportsImportsTotalSaudia7776153155194350121698819Libya441244444892425799Syria71258581774422567Arab Emirates13741411354376198Sudan21342929231223759Egypt Human Development Report 2000/2001 - 113
Egypt’s Social Capital and Arab Economic IntegrationThe group ofcountries forming theArab Free Trade Arearepresents animportantconsumption market.growth of Egyptian exports to Arabcountries was much lower (5.1 per cent)than that of Egyptian imports (19.3 percent). Saudi Arabia has kept the position offirst trade partner for Egypt during the1990s. However, since 1994, the Egyptianbalance of payments has been deterioratingin favor of Saudi Arabia. Severe competitionwas felt mostly in the case of constructionmaterial and petrochemical products. Insecond place comes Libya where theinternational economic boycott pushed it totrade more with it neighbors, especiallyEgypt and Tunisia. Starting in 1994, Egypt’sbalance of payments with Libya turned alsoin favor of the latter due to the increase inEgypt’s import of iron and petrochemicals,in which Libya enjoys a comparativeadvantage. However, the balance ofpayments with the third major Arab tradepartner, namely Syria, has remained in favorof Egypt throughout the whole period. Infourth position, come the United ArabEmirates, which have benefited, with Egypt,from the geographic location of Dubai andits role as a re-exporting port. Sudan’sposition as a trade partner with Egypt hasdeteriorated due to the boycott imposed onit by the international powers.The Arab Free Trade AreaThe agreement signed in 1981 forfacilitating and developing trade betweenthe Arab countries, is considered the pointof departure for building up an Arab freetrade area that would eventually lead to theestablishment of an Arab common market.The Economic and Social Council of theArab League decided in February 1997 toimplement this agreement through an actionplan, which included the following steps:● Gradual liberalization of trade betweenthe member countries by annuallyreducing 10 per cent of tariffs in effect on1 January 1997.● Elimination of non-tariff barriers.● Applying Arabic rules of origin.● Exchanging data and information.● Establishing a committee for settlingdisputes.● According preferential treatment to theless developed Arab countries.● Exchanging views concerning traderelatedactivities, such as scientific andapplied research, legislation, and theprotection of intellectual property rights.The group of countries forming the ArabFree Trade Area represents an importantconsumption market with a population of174 million, an average per capita incomeof US$3000 and a total gross domesticproduct of US$515 billion (according to1997 data). Among the twenty-two Arabcountries, fourteen have already announcedtheir commitment to the implementation ofthis agreement, while the remaining eightwill join the Area after receiving specialtreatment as least developed Arab countries.It is noteworthy that the fourteen committedcountries contribute 90 per cent and 96 percent respectively of total Arab foreign tradeand intra-Arab trade.Bilateral Free Trade AreasIn addition to the multilateral Arab FreeTrade Area, some Arab countries havesigned free trade agreements on a bilateralbasis. Egypt has been keen to sign bilateralagreements, especially with those Arabcountries that have implemented economicreform and structural adjustment. 1998witnessed the signature of four free tradeagreements between Egypt and Tunisia,Morocco, Lebanon, and Jordan. Theseagreements aim at bilateral liberalization oftrade via eliminating tariff and non-tariffbarriers.Egypt considers expanding intra-Arab tradeas a main component in its exportdevelopment program. Although only about15 per cent of Egyptian exports go to Arabcountries, there is considerable potential forincreasing this figure. Egypt has onlyrecently started to benefit from the naturaladvantage of its geographical location amongthe Arab countries, and the cultural andsocial ties between the Arab peoples.Labor MobilityThe number of Egyptians working abroadhas never been agreed upon, and significantdifferences exist among the availableestimates. For example, the 1996 censusestimated the number at 3.5 million, whileother estimates suggest the figure of 1.7million, at most. The boom accompanyingthe considerable increase in oil revenues,114 -Egypt Human Development Report 2000/2001
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This report is the major output of
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AcknowledgementsThe Team of the Rep
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Table of ContentsExecutive Summary
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Energy Consumption 68Agriculture 69
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2.4 Health and Education 332.5 Poli
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AbbreviationsADNAADPAIAPRARCB2CBABC
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Executive SummaryI - Globalization
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Executive Summarythe main source of
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Executive Summaryfertilizers, pesti
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Executive Summarythe Egyptian labor
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Chapter OneGlobalization and Human
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Globalization and Human Development
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Chapter TwoThe Economic Well Being
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The Economic Well Being of Egyptian
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Globalization Challenges to Egypt
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Page 78 and 79: Globalization Challenges to Egypt
Page 80 and 81: The Environment and Sustainable Dev
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Page 109 and 110: Chapter SixGlobalization and Human
Page 111 and 112: Globalization and Human CapitalOf t
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Page 119 and 120: Chapter SevenEgypt’s Social Capit
Page 121 and 122: Egypt’s Social Capital and Arab E
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Page 131 and 132: Technical Notesand Sources of DataH
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Page 139 and 140: Bibliography◆ Abdallah, H. (1996)
Page 141 and 142: BibliographyOECD Development Centre
Page 143 and 144: BibliographyNational policies in a
Page 145 and 146: Bibliography◆ Springborg,Robert (
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Governorate IndicatorsG.18 Demograp
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