Preparation

OECD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
Working Paper No. 129
(Formerly Technical Paper No. 129)

ECONOMIC REFORM IN EGYPT IN A CHANGING GLOBAL ECONOMY by Joseph Licari
Research programme on: Strengthening Links between Developing Countries: Regional Co-operation and Integration

December 1997 OCDE/GD(97)226

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................ 6 RÉSUMÉ ................................................................................................. 7 SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 7 PREFACE ................................................................................................ 9 I. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY ............. 11 II. EGYPT AND THE EUROPEAN UNION .............................................. 23 III. POLICY REFORM AND POLITICAL CONSTRAINT .......................... 33 IV. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................. 45 NOTES .................................................................................................... 47 APPENDIX A. EGYPT’S FOREIGN TRADE, 1970-94 ............................ 49 APPENDIX B. COMPOSITION OF EGYPT’S EXPORTS TO THE EUROPEAN UNION .................................................................. 50 APPENDIX C. COMPOSITION OF EGYPT’S IMPORTS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION ............................................................ 51 REFERENCES ........................................................................................ 53

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of ParisSorbonne (Paris IV) and former Ambassador of Malta, is grateful to Ulrich Hiemenz and Kiichiro Fukasaku for helpful comments, and to Vincent Malaizé who lent support in collecting data and bibliographical material.

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RÉSUMÉ
L’Égypte, pays le plus ancien et le plus peuplé du monde arabe — l’un des

References: ALONSO-GAMO, P., S. FENNELL and K. SAKR (1997), Adjusting to new realities: MENA, the Uruguay Round and the EU-Mediterranean Initiative, Working Paper of the IMF. CENTRE FRANÇAIS POUR LE COMMERCE EXTÉRIEUR (CFCE) (1997), Égypte: un marché, Paris. COCHRANE, S.H. and E.E. MASSIAH, Egypt: Recent Changes in Population Growth, their Causes and Consequences, HCO Working Paper 49. DADUSH, U. and M. RIORDAN (1996), The Maghreb Countries and the European Union’s Mediterranean Initiative: A Background Note, World Bank, Washington, D.C. ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT, Egypt, Annual country profiles and Quarterly country reports, London. FINANCIAL TIMES (THE) (1997), Survey: Egypt, 13 May, London. FONTAGNÉ, L. and N. PÉRIDY (1997), The European Union and the Maghreb: Towards a New Partnership, OECD Development Centre Studies, Paris. GALAL, A. and B. HOEKMAN (eds.) (1997), Regional Partners in Global Markets: Limits and Possibilities of the Euro-Med Agreements, London and Cairo. GATT (1993), Trade Policy Review, Arab Republic of Egypt, 1992, Geneva. HAVRYLYSHYN, O. and P. KUNZEL (1997), Intra-industry trade of Arab countries: an indicator of potential competitiveness, Working Paper of the IMF, Washington, D.C. HOEKMAN, B. and A. SUBRAMANIAN (1996), Egypt and the Uruguay Round, World Bank and IMF, Washington, D.C. MAJD, N. (1996), Egypt’s Free Trade Agreement with the EU, World Bank, Washington, D.C. NIBLOCK, T. and E. MURPHY (1993), Economic and Political Liberalisation in the Middle East, British Academic Press, London. PETRI, P. (1997a), Trade Strategies for the Southern Mediterranean, Technical Paper No. 127, OECD Development Centre, Paris. PETRI, P. (1997b), The Case of Missing Foreign Investment in the Southern Mediterranean, Technical Paper No. 128, OECD Development Centre, Paris. POMFRET, R. (1986), The Mediterranean Policy of the European Community, London. SAFADI, R. and S. LAIRD, The Uruguay Round Agreements: Impact on Developing Countries, World Development, Vol. 24, No. 7. SHIELLS, C.R., A. SUBRAMANIAN and P. UIMONEN (1996), Effects of the Uruguay Round on Egypt and Morocco, Working Paper of the IMF, Washington, D.C. SOCIAL FUND FOR DEVELOPMENT (1997), Annual Report 1996, Government of Egypt, Cairo. 53 WEISS, D.W. and U.G. WURZEL (forthcoming), The Economics and Politics of Transition to an Open Market Economy: The Case of Egypt, OECD Development Centre Studies, Paris. WINTERS, L.A. (1996), The European Union’s Mediterranean Agreements: a Comparative Analysis and Assessment, World Bank,Washington, D.C. WORLD BANK (1997), Arab Republic of Egypt, Country Economic Memorandum, Vol. I-IV, 15 March, Washington, D.C. 54