Obstacles blocking drug trade between Jordan, Egypt removed
17/12/2008 16:39
Jordan and Egypt have removed "once and for all" obstacles hindering the
entry of Jordan-made pharmaceuticals into the Egyptian market, local daily The
Jordan Times reported today.
"We have agreed to solve all outstanding issues
in order to encourage joint cooperation between the two countries' drug
manufacturing companies," Minister of Industry and Trade Amer Hadidi said
yesterday at the end of the preparation meetings of Joint Jordanian-Egyptian
Higher Committee.
Jordanian pharmaceutical manufacturers have been struggling
with restrictions set by Cairo over granting their products access to the vast
Egyptian market.
Joint Jordanian-Egyptian Higher Committee is scheduled to
convene today in Jordan's capital of Amman, with both sides due to sign a total
of 21 deals, including an agreement on imported Egyptian gas.
Jordan, which
imports almost all its energy needs, relies Egyptian gas to generate 85 percent
of its electricity.
In 2004, Egypt agreed to supply Jordan with 2.3 billion
cubic meters of gas a year at a preferential price for 15 years, but the
agreement excludes private industries.
The two sides reached an agreement
late last year to supply the industrial sector in the kingdom with an additional
550 million cubic meters of gas a year.
According to Hadidi, trade exchange
between the two countries amounted to about US$629 million during the first nine
months of the year, up 30 percent compared to the same period in 2007.
The
trade exchange in 2006 stood at US$526 million and grew by 23 percent in 2007,
reaching US$650 million, added the minister.
Xinhua
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