Australia to Negotiate Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with Egypt

Trade Minister Mark Vaile announced today that Australia will negotiate a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with Egypt.

“With Australia’s exports totalling about $370 million last year, there is room for significant growth,” Mr Vaile said.

Mr Vaile met with his counterpart, the Egyptian Foreign Trade Minister Dr Youssef Boutros-Ghali, in the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris last week.

“While our current bilateral trade is substantial, both Governments agree there is scope for improvement. With this in mind, Dr Boutros-Ghali and I agreed today to negotiate a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, ” he said.

Mr Vaile explained that the agreement would look, among other things, at issues of cooperation and facilitation including in areas such as customs, quarantine and competition policy. It could also lead to an increase in two-way investment between Australia and Egypt, particularly in agriculture.

“Both Governments agreed to investigate impediments to economic cooperation that could be addressed through a TIFA. For example, Australia will be hoping to discuss technical standards applied by Egypt to meat imports, with a view to removing or reducing unnecessary barriers.”

Mr Vaile said there was also scope for more cooperation on sanitary and phytosanitary standards and practices, from which both countries could benefit.

“Once finalised, the agreement could help to open new opportunities for Australian exporters,” Mr Vaile said.

Mr Vaile’s announcement follows the recent agreement between AWB Ltd and the Egyptian authorities on a long-term supply contract for Australian wheat. The terms of that agreement include possible investments by AWB Ltd in storage silos at Egypt’s state-of-the-art Sokhna Port.

Contact: Matthew Doman (ministerial) 02 6277 7420 - Nicole Guihot (departmental) 02 6261 1555