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Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of EFTA
Published Jul 21, 2010
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The European Free Trade Association celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year. The EFTA Convention was signed 1960 and entered into force the same year.
In that context, the Embassies of Switzerland and Norway in Cairo in cooperation with the Swiss Egyptian Business Association (SEBA) organized a Business Forum on Monday, June 7th, 2010 at 11:00 , Four Seasons Nile Plaza, Garden City to celebrate this occasion in the framework of the Free Trade Agreement between Egypt and the EFTA countries.
The Forum was honoured by the presence of H.E. Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Minister of Trade and Industry and H.E. Swiss State Secretary Jean-Daniel Gerber, Director of the State Secretary for Economic Affairs (Seco).
In addition to the above mentioned Keynote speakers, the event was also honoured by the participation of distinguished guests from the Business Community in a Panel Discussion where we will share together the experiences in the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement and its impact on the bilateral trade.
Business Forum : Implementing Free Trade with Egypt
The EFTA experience : A common review
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The EFTA Convention was signed in 1960 thus establishing a free trade area among its Member States. In 1994, three of the EFTA Countries, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Iceland and the Principality of Liechtenstein signed an agreement with the EU in order to be part of the EU internal market on a European Economic Area (EEA). The fourth country, Switzerland opted to conclude bilateral agreements with the EU separately.
On the 27th of January 2007, the EFTA states (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein) together with Egypt, signed an agreement to implement free trade among the EFTA states and Egypt. The agreement was signed in Davos on the occasion of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum and entered into force after ratification by both the Egyptian parliament and EFTA states' parliaments. The implementation of the free trade agreement between Egypt and the EFTA states will contribute positively in developing and deepening the bilateral economic relations between Egypt and EFTA.
In the context of the 50th anniversary of EFTA, the Embassies of Norway and Switzerland in Cairo in cooperation with the Swiss Egyptian Business Association (SEBA) held a Business Forum on Monday 7 June at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza. This occasion was celebrated in the framework of the Free Trade Agreement between Egypt and the EFTA Member States.
The Forum was honoured by the presence of H.E. Minister of Trade and Industry Eng. Rachid Mohamed Rachid and H.E. State Secretary of Switzerland Mr. Jean-Daniel Gerber.
In addition to the above-mentioned keynote speakers, the event was also honoured by the participation of distinguished guests from the business community in a panel discussion for the participants to share together the experiences in the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement and its impact on the bilateral trade.
The Forum will beann at 12:00 noon when the Swiss Ambassador H.E. Dominik Furgler followed by the Norwegian Ambassador H.E. Thomas Hauff, delivered short welcome addresses. The official session then started with the speech of H.E. Jean-Daniel Gerber, Secretary of State of Switzerland. H.E. Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Minister of Trade and Industry of Egypt then delivered a Key Note Speech. The opening and and official Sessions were modertated by Mr. Denis Knobel, Minister, Deputy Head of Mission
The experiences of the private sector in implementing the EFTA Free Trade Agreement, will were exchanged in the panel discussion which started at 1:30, with the participation of Mr. Sayed El Bous, Senior Adviser to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Mahmoud Aboulel Alla, Head of Human Recources & Capacity building Sector, Egyptian Customs Administration, Mr. Helmy Aboueish, SEKEM Vice Chairman & Managind Director of SEKEM Group, Mr. Bassim Yousef, ABB President of ABB in Egypt & Africa, Mr. Mounir Barakat, Managing Partner, IGAT. The Panel was moderated by Mrs. Madiha Nssr, Commerical Attache, Embassy of Switzerland.
Posted by
SEBA
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