Egypt is looking to maximise the potential of the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) agreement signed with Israel and the US more than 17 years ago to unlock $5 billion in exports.
Last year, the Arab world’s most populous country and third-largest economy reached $1.2bn in exports under the 2004 deal, which allows Egyptian products duty-free entry into the US, provided they include 10.5 per cent Israeli content.
“That leaves a tremendous amount of room for business opportunities and growth as we move forward,” said Ashraf Naguib, chief executive of Cairo-based think tank Global Trade Matters, which organised a QIZ conference on Wednesday with business and government representatives from the three countries.
“We want to take away all of this clutter that is around it — that includes regional issues, that includes current global issues and the global uncertainty that we have — and really move all of these things aside,” he said.
Reaching $100bn in exports
The urgency of enhancing the QIZ agreement has been amplified as Egypt aims to more than triple its non-petroleum exports revenue from $32bn last year to $60bn by 2025 and reach $100bn, potentially by the end of the decade.
But it faces an economic crisis as the Russia-Ukraine war has put a tremendous strain on the country’s food supplies, tourism inflows and foreign investments. In March, Egypt imposed a three-month ban on the export of several essential food items, including wheat.
High fuel and food prices have hit vulnerable populations in low-income countries hardest, the International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook last month. Global growth is projected to slow to 3.6 per cent in 2022 from an estimated 6.1 per cent in 2021.
Egypt has lowered its economic growth forecast to 4.5 per cent from 5.5 per cent for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.
Last week, the country’s central bank raised its key interest rates by 200 basis points in the government’s latest attempt to contain double-digit inflation fuelled by high import costs and the March devaluation of the Egyptian pound against the US dollar.
Increasing export revenue to $100bn in such a challenging environment “is close to landing a man on the moon … but it is not impossible”, Mr Naguib said.
That is why it is important to take advantage of the multitude of trade agreements Egypt has signed with other countries, including the QIZ, he said.
History of the QIZ
The US introduced the QIZ concept in 1996 with the aim of developing regional economic partnerships that would benefit both Arab countries and Israel.
Jordan, which had signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, became the first country to join the QIZ protocol.
Although Egypt was the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel, in 1979, it did not sign a QIZ agreement until December 2004.
At the time, Egypt feared its textiles industry would be threatened by global competition from China and India, as the World Trade Organisation phased out quantitative quotas on the textiles trade.
About 95 per cent of Egypt’s exports through the QIZ come from the textiles sector, mainly to take advantage of the exemption from high customs, said Ashraf Rabiey, head of the QIZ unit at the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry.
“The average for duties in the US is only 1.5 per cent but for textiles it can be as high as 32 per cent,” he said.
The Israeli content requirement under the QIZ started at 11.7 per cent but was negotiated down to 10.5 per cent in October 2007.
Egypt should also capitalise on declining Chinese exports to the US, which fell to $31bn last year from $40bn in 2020, Mr Rabiey said.
Total imports of ready-made textiles to the US reached $121bn last year.
Mr Rabiey advocated expanding the geographical areas covered by the QIZ. Currently there are more than 1,200 QIZ companies in Alexandria, Greater Cairo, the Middle Delta, the Suez Canal area and Upper Egypt.
Last month, Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea and Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El Said met Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivai to discuss strengthening trade relations.
Together they signed a letter asking the US to expand the QIZ to include more governorates, such as Fayoum, Assiut and Sohag, Mr Rabiye said.
Yaniv Tessel, director of the North and Latin America department at the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, said such meetings are a sign of warming relations between Israel and Egypt in the context of recent regional developments.
In 2020, the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco agreed to normalise relations with Israel.
The UAE and Israel also concluded negotiations last month for a free-trade agreement, which should be signed next week, Mr Tessel said.
“Our standing point in the regional economic landscape has completely changed from what it was in early 2020, and I’m sure it will affect the Israeli economy and the economic relationship between Egypt and Israel,” he said.
Israel exported $143bn worth of goods and services in 2021, with its largest recipient the US.
Bilateral trade between Egypt and Israel hit $330 million last year, an increase of 63 per cent compared to 2020, said Amira Oron, Israeli ambassador to Egypt.
Christopher Leslie, economic officer at the US embassy in Cairo, said the relationships between the US, Egypt and Israel are “of critical strategic importance to the United States, not just for us, but for regional stability and economic integration”.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
match info
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 37')
Atletico Madrid 1 (Costa 39')
Man of the match Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The%20specs
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MATCH INFO
Championship play-offs, second legs:
Aston Villa 0
Middlesbrough 0
(Aston Villa advance 1-0 on aggregate)
Fulham 2
Sessegnon (47'), Odoi (66')
Derby County 0
(Fulham advance 2-1 on aggregate)
Final
Saturday, May 26, Wembley. Kick off 8pm (UAE)
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh810,000
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The%20specs
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SERIE A FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Sassuolo v Bologna (11.45pm)
Saturday
Brescia v Torino (6pm)
Inter Milan v Verona (9pm)
Napoli v Genoa (11.45pm)
Sunday
Cagliari v Verona (3.30pm)
Udinese v SPAL (6pm)
Sampdoria v Atalanta (6pm)
Lazio v Lecce (6pm)
Parma v Roma (9pm)
Juventus v Milan (11.45pm)
!['Prices are still the same over the past 10 days or two weeks. There are goods now sold at somehow reduced prices in government-owned shops in order to beat [traders] who raise prices, who use this opportunity [currency devaluation] to raise prices. This is a good step by the government to support citizens,' said one Egyptian citizen. Reuters](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/6FR37B5P2FDHRMIUE5FEQWVGIA.JPG?smart=true&auth=d7d5cc1adc349847e83833f41bc5cbb1dbdfcedd80a2890f417d4d0617bf5958&width=800&height=450)
