Egypt, Iraq Sign Contracts Under UN Oil-for-Food ProgramEgypt and Iraq have signed several contracts on exports of Egyptian commodities to Iraq under the UN oil-for-food program, the Middle East News Agency reported on April 7.Mokhtar Khatab, Egyptian minister of public enterprises, said that the contracts were signed during an Egyptian products fair held last week in Iraq's capital of Baghdad and included a deal on exporting 5,299 minibuses, trucks and buses to Iraq. Khatab said that Egypt will also export 100,000 tons of reinforced iron, 700 tractors, large amount of ceramics and construction materials to the sanctions-stricken country. He expected that the trade between Egypt and Iraq would see a " remarkable" boom in the coming years, saying that Egypt has planned to hold a construction materials fair in Baghdad in May. Egypt is Iraq's largest trade partner in the Arab world and the fifth largest in the world. Their trade volume is expected to exceed 2 billion US dollars in 2001 after they signed a free trade agreement in January, Egyptian officials said. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |