Egyptian exports within the Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) agreement reached $191m during the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 of which 98% were in the sector of ready made clothes, said Ashraf El Rabie, head of the QIZ unit affiliated to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

In 2004, Egypt signed the QIZ agreement with the United States of America and Israel. The agreement stipulates that specific Egyptian products and goods are to be exported to the US without customs, on the condition that Egyptian factories involved in the agreement would import a percentage of production inputs from Israel.

El Rabie said the Egyptian government continues its negotiations with its Israeli counterpart in order to reduce Israeli components to 8.5% compared to the current percentage of 10.5%.

He explained that negotiations take a long time, and the decision of reduction depends mainly on the approval of the Knesset.

Total Egyptian exports within the agreement reached $8.642bn during the period from February 2005 to June 2016, with $8.601bn being for textile industries.

The number of companies qualified to exporting within the agreement increased to 965 after 4 new factories joined the agreement in February.

El Rabie added that Egypt continues its negotiations to expand the range of the QIZ agreement and includes new industries within it, without limiting the existing industries to ready-made clothes, textiles, agricultural crops, and leathers.