Egypt & UK Post Brexit Trade Negotiations In Final Stages —Gamea
Image Courtesy of BEBA
Egypt will soon sign a free trade agreement with the UK following the latter’s exit from the EU, commonly known as Brexit, according to Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea.
Negotiations between Egypt and the UK over the terms of a post-Brexit trade agreement are being finalized and the two sides will put pen to paper “in the coming period,”
The Minister said that the past period witnessed intensive negotiations between the two countries to reach an agreement on free trade, which will soon be finalised.
The announcement came during a virtual conference, entitled “The Role of the Government in Supporting the Private Sector”, organised by the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) on Sunday.
Gamea said that as the UK considers Egypt the main gateway to Africa, her ministry was looking to obtain additional advantages especially concerning the export of crops.
According to government data, the UK has the third highest trade exchange among European countries with Egypt. The volume of trade exchanged between the two countries reached $2.5bn during the first 10 months of 2019, compared to $2.4bn during the same period in 2018.
Trade Minister Nevine Gamea said at a roundtable hosted yesterday by the British Egyptian Business Association.
Egypt wants to increase its agricultural exports to Britain under the pact, she said, without providing further details.
A trade agreement two years in the making: Trade talks have been ongoing since 2018, two years after the UK voted to leave the European Union — and with it, the bloc’s trade pact with Egypt, which removed trade barriers on agricultural and manufacturing goods.
At the time, the UK was said to be looking to negotiate terms similar to those in the EU pact, while Egypt was pushing for ways to increase exports.
