The United States has announced plans to expand trade with Egypt by granting more Egyptian producers duty-free access to the American market.
The US embassy in Cairo said in a press release Monday that it is planning to widen its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme, which currently offers duty-free access to the US market to an array of Egyptian producers.
"Our goal is to help Egyptian businesses to increase and diversify their exports to the United States, using GSP and other programs, as a way to increase prosperity and employment in Egypt," the US Ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, said at an event for Egyptian exporters also held in Cairo on 9 January.
"The United States will do all it can to help Egypt develop its private sector and reach its full economic potential, building a partnership based on mutual interest and mutual respect that is stronger than ever before."
The GSP programme eliminates duties on over 3,400 products entering the US market from Egypt and other developing countries.
In 2010, Egypt exported US$51 million to the United States under the programme, including agricultural produce and locally manufactured products.
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