Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Mahmoud Issa on Tuesday warned the United States and Arab states that they would lose a lot if they failed to provide economic support to Egypt.
"This is the time when we will know friend from foe," he said.
Issa added that even though the United States promised to help Arab countries in terms of trade and investment in light of the Arab Spring, it has failed to help Egypt since the revolution.
“The US promises lack clear mechanisms and thus were not carried out,” he said, adding that he is meeting with US Ambassador Anne Patterson on Wednesday to plan his Monday visit to the United States, where he is slated to meet with the US Secretary of Commerce and members of Congress.
“I expect positive results in this regard,” he said, adding that the Free Trade Agreement would be a top priority for his talks with the secretary of commerce.
Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri said at a news conference last month that the Arab countries pledged to give Egypt aid and loans worth US$10.5 billion, but only US$1 billion was granted up until now.
He also said Egypt has not received anything from the US$2.25 billion promised by the United States.
The US announced on Monday that it is working with Egyptian companies to ensure more of them benefit from the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, which offers duty-free access in the US market to a wide array of Egyptian producers.
“Our goal is to help Egyptian businesses increase and diversify their exports to the United States, by way of GSP and other programs, to increase prosperity and employment in Egypt,” said Patterson at an event for Egyptian exporters in Cairo on 9 January.
