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TRADE ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMME (TEP-A)
Egypt and the EU: A Successful Partnership in Trade
The Closing Conference of the Trade Enhancement Programme TEP-A, will take place on Monday 19th November 2007 in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, under the auspices of H.E. Engineer Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Minister of Trade and Industry. Some four hundred experts from the European Commission Delegation to Egypt, the Ministry of Trade and Industry Officials, the public and private sectors businessmen, national and expatriate trade experts, and the mass media are participating in the Conference.
The Conference will review the final TEP-A achievements within the European Commission’s commitment to support Egypt’s national development through growth of trade and export activities. The Conference will also discuss sustainability after TEP-A phasing out, the European Commission further support to building Egypt’s administrative capacity for trade and export, through “Institutional Twinning”, and through the sustained dialogue for trade liberalization.
The Trade Enhancement Programme (TEP-A), is an EC funded 20 million euros assistance project, implemented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry since 2004 and is phasing out, as planned, by the end of 2007. TEP-A contributed to strengthening the capacity of MTI in several areas notably: a) the Commercial Representation Service and its network of commercial attaches, b) the trade-related aspects of the EU/Egypt Association Agreement and its officers in charge, c) World Trade Organization related affairs d) export promotion activities carried out by the Ministry of Trade and Industry departments, specialized agencies and Exports Councils e) trade facilitation, through the enhancement of export-import inspection procedures.
Dr. Klaus Ebermann, Ambassador of the European Commission to Egypt, said: “The Trade Enhancement Programme TEP A – in combination with other EC funded programmes – has contributed successfully to Egypt’s economic reform agenda by tackling trade barriers, stimulating export promotion activities and regulatory reform. While examining the current dynamic trade developments, the European Commission notes, with satisfaction, that Egypt has already started to reap some benefits of its reform efforts”.
In this context, it is worth noting that the enlarged EU has become the first trading partner for Egypt as it represents more than 40% of Egypt’s total trade with the world. Bilateral trade has been steadily increasing: 11.5 billion euros in 2004, 13.3 billion in 2005 and more than 16 billion euros in 2006. Since the entry into force of the EU-Egypt free trade agreement in2004, the annual bilateral trade flows have grown by around 20% each year.
Currently, all ongoing programmes funded by the European Commission amount to more than EGP 7.5 billion. Following the signature of the European Neighbourhood Action Plan with Egypt recently, the EU will provide Egypt with an additional EGP 4.2 billion in 2007-2010 to implement economic and social reform programmes."
For more information, kindly contact:
Ms. Hala A. Alshawarby
Human Resources Director & TEP-A Coordinator
Ministry of Trade & Industry
Tel: 7921177 X 701 Fax: 7921198
h.shawarby@mti.gov.eg
Ms. Nagwa Farag
Communication Consultant for TEP-A
0122221086 –
nagwafarag2000@yahoo.fr
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