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Tripoli, 20 September 2013:
Libya’s industry business association, the Libyan Industry Union (LIU), and its Egyptian counterpart agreed a deal this week . . .[restrict]that should see more Egyptian products entering the Libyan market at the expense of those from China and the Far East.
Trade between the two countries was worth more than $6 billion in 2010 but has since fallen dramatically. Part of the reason has been the quality of Egyptian goods being sold to Libya according to the LIU.
A delegation from the union met with the chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, Mohamed Suwaidi, and other Egyptian industry heads to discuss boosting trade between the two countries. At the meeting, the Libyan delegation said that it welcomed increased imports of Egyptian products as opposed to those coming from China and east Asia but that there had to be better quality controls.
They called for the establishment of proper controls to maintain standards of Egyptian products. Some Egyptian exporters, they claimed, had exported inferior goods during the past, particularly during the revolution, and this had damaged the reputation of the Egyptian products generally.
As well as industrial goods such as electrical and electronic goods and appliances, chemical products, wood and metal furniture, the agreement covers foodstuffs and agricultural crops as well. Also included is cooperation on training, rehabilitation, quality control, agricultural quarantine measures and transportation, shipping and storage issues.
In an interview on Egyptian television yesterday, Libya’s ambassador to Egypt, Mohamed Fayez Jebril, said that Libyan investment in Egyptian industry was between $9 billion and $12 billion (LD 11.1 billion and LD 14.8 billion). He indicated that this is expected to increase in the near future.
He added that there were more than seven thousand Libyans studying in Egyptian universities. [/restrict]
