Brussels, 04/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Lebanon and Palestine have officially expressed their desire to join the Agadir Agreement, announced Elaïd Mahsoussi, the president of this group of four countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan) - a group that was created on the initiative of the EU.
The Agadir Agreement focuses on the promotion of horizontal trade (between all these partner countries of the EU) and has been operational since 2008. The technical unit is presided over by former Moroccan customs officer Mahsoussi and is based in Amman (Jordan). This regional trade cooperation enjoys EU funding. Its goal is to support trade between the partner countries in order to diversify their trade as this is overly focused on exports towards the EU market.
The task of promoting trade between the four countries is immense as currently it largely insignificant. According to Mahsoussi, the reasons for this are “firstly internal, closely linked to the unfavourable climate generated by what is known as the Arab Spring; and then external, relating to the economic and financial crisis that has hit the EU over recent years”, when a relative increase in trade flows was planned. (FB)