Mubarak Calls for Establishment of Arab Common MarketEgyptian President Hosni Mubarak Thursday called for the establishment of an Islamic common market and a regime of economic integration among all Arab countries, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported.Addressing a ceremony marking the anniversary of the revelation of Koran, Mubarak said that all Muslims should work together to set up the common market on the basis of "frankness and transparency", in order to meet the challenges which the Islamic world is facing. Egypt will promote a full-scale project to lift tariffs in service sector among Arab countries at the next Arab summit to be held in Jordan's Capital Amman in March 2001. It has signed an agreement with Syria on establishing a free trade zone, a step forward to realize the Arab common market. Egypt is keen to boost economic cooperations with other Arab countries and expects to sign an accord on setting up a free trade zone with Iraq and Libya as well. The Arab world, which aims to set up the pan-region free trade zone by 2007, has been warming ties with Iraq in recent months with moves to boost trade and resume flights despite a decade of United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq since its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. |
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