EXPLORING A NEW ERA OF

Welcome to the Global Trade Matters “Enhancing the Qualified Industrial Zones Conference” organized in association with the Egypt QIZ Unit at the Ministry of Trade and Industry and which will be held in Cairo on Wednesday May 25th, 2022, at the FOUR SEASONS HOTEL CAIRO AT THE FIRST RESIDENCE. 

The Egyptian and Israeli private sectors shared a positive outlook as the Qualified Industrial Zones Protocol (QIZ) got a long-awaited push when the Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development and the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry met with Israeli Minister of Economy at the QIZ Unit in Cairo on March 31st 2022 to explore means for enhancing trade and economic cooperation between Egypt and Israel, within the framework of the joint protocol on qualified industrial zones (QIZ), in addition to discussing the potential of activating bilateral trade and investment capabilities respectively.   

At its inception in 2004, the QIZ Protocol signed between Egypt, Israel and the United States was expected to reach trade worth USD5 Billion annually, taking advantage of the duty-free access for Egyptian products entering the US market under the conditionality of a 10.5% (2017) Israeli input. While 2021 saw a significant growth in Exports to the US under the QIZ reaching USD1.2 Billion, private sector stakeholders from Egypt, Israel and the United States agree that the agreement can see even further growth creating USD Billions in trade and investment opportunities.    

Since 2020 the QIZ Unit of the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and industry has approved an additional 50+ companies to register as part of the QIZ, bringing the total number of companies listed on the QIZ to 1124 companies (February 2022). This number constitutes hundreds of millions of USD in local and foreign investments over the past 17 years in addition to the creation of hundreds of thousand sustainable jobs.   

As Egypt sets an ambitious goal to grow its exports to $100 Billion in the next four years, the Qualified Industrial Zones Protocol will play a significant role in achieving this target given the sustainability of sound regional economic cooperation policies and enhanced private sector partnerships between Egyptian and Israeli businesses.    

The Global Trade Matters “Enhancing the of Industrial Zones Conference” will bring together a distinguished group of Egyptian, Israeli and international speakers and delegates to openly discuss the enhancement of the Qualified Industrial Zones and how Egypt, Israel and other stakeholders can take better advantage of this unique agreement.