N.Z. "reluctant” to trade with Egypt

Press, 1 September 1977, Page 14

N.Z. "reluctant” to trade with Egypt

PA Auckland The Egyptian Ambassador to New Zealand. Dr Ihab Sorour, has said that he is battled bv the seeming reluctance of New Zealand business people to take advantage of trading opportunities with Egypt — and

other Middle East countries. |i “Why are you hesitant to. come to Egypt, which is:, offering a new market to y OU —it is a duty-free mar- . ket." he said in an interview I in Auckland. ‘•\Vh\ are New Zealand businesses not following up invitations to approach Egypt on trading possibiliI Dr Surour said that be-| cause of oil. the trade bal-1 ante was now about S27OM; in favour of the Arabs. Im-| proved trade would lead to a better balance. Trade with] Egypt was worth nearly] SIOM and had increased about a hundredfold in the]

last tw o vears. Commodities the area was interested in included timber, paper products, meat, dairy products, tish. hides, honey, .wool, prefabricated houses, •and manufactured goods. ; A joint New Zealand Fetta I cheese project, an abattoir in Cairo, a model freezing factory. and animal husbandry l were subjects the Egyptian Minister of Agriculture (Mr ! Ibrahim Shoukrif would dis-

cuss with the Government] when he visited New Zealand ] in February or March next.r said Dr Sorour. The proposed factory in the Suez Canal Free_ Zone area needed about SSM in | foreign currency. It could] ■produce about 4000 tonnes of j local white cheese, called] Idomietta. a year, plus 100| tonnes of sterilised milk a] day — from New Zealand] ] milk powder and milk-fat; exports. I Dr Sorour said that aj ■feasibility study being made iin Egypt and in New Zealand. and involving three or four companies, held promise 'of a chain of cold storage abattoirs being established in I Egypt. . . „ I A "Kiwi city was envis- ' aged in the Suez Canal’s (duty free zone. “A New Zealand shop window of the i Middle East.” he described it. But economic links bell tween Arab States must not

be based only on food for oil, or protein for energy, but on a solid structure of joint ventures and development projects, he said. He mentioned reclamation

projects as coming in this sphere, using New Zealand i raw materials. Arab funds, i cheap and stable labour, - skilled engineers and artisans . from Egypt. i One example he gave was ria carpet factory in Egypt -1 using wool from New Zea-

(land. Discussions had been lheld with the New Zealand | Co-operative Wool Marketing I Association, and prospects j looked favourable. ; Egypt had already bought |§2M of wool, and total wool 1 purchases were expected to i reach S7M this year. I Shipping was no barrier to ! Egyptian-New Zealand trade, Dr Sorour said. Three lines 1 now serviced the Arabian •(Gulf and two went to Egypt land Red Sea ports. Two I extra lines would probably ' offer a 26-day direct service ;to Egypt beginning next

March or April. An Export Institute spokesman, Mr R. Southcombe, said 1 that the institute had been concentrating its ’ efforts in the Arab Gulf ’ States of the Middle East for I the last three years. This arose from the introduction ’ of a direct New Zealand-Gulf

State shipping service, two big trade missions to the area, and many intervening visits by exporters. The institute had decided to concentrate its efforts in this area, rather than deploy I its resources across the whole ] Middle East, region. Many primary prodicers were constantly active in the biggei countries such as Egypt Iran, and Iraq. A big consortium of New Zealanc companies had a tull-tim< office in Cairo.