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The agreement on Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs), which opens the U.S. market to goods produced in Egypt with Israeli inputs, promises jobs for Egyptians while offering Israel a symbolic economic foothold in the largest Arab nation.
The Egyptian government says it is the first step toward a full free trade deal with the United States and that in the meantime it will help tide Egypt over when US quotas for imports of textiles and clothes -- which favor Egyptian producers -- expire in January.
~snip~
The reaction has been mixed within Egypt, where relations with Israel remain controversial 25 years after Cairo signed a peace treaty with the Jewish state.
Companies outside the seven zones are lobbying to be included, arguing that exclusion could lead to factory closures and layoffs, the Egyptian government said on Monday.
more:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=723&e=3&u=/nm/20041214/wl_nm/trade_egypt_israel_dc