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U.S.–Middle East Free Trade Area
The U.S.–MEFTA initiative started in 2003 with the purpose of creating a U.S.–Middle East Free Trade Area by 2013. The U.S. objective with this initiative has been to gradually increase trade and investment in the Middle East, and to assist the Middle East countries in implementing domestic reforms, instituting the rule of law, protecting private property rights (including intellectual property), and creating a foundation for openness, economic growth, and prosperity. Among the stated objectives are: *Actively supporting WTO membership of countries in the Middle East and Maghreb *Expanding the Generalized System of Preferencess that currently provides duty-free entry to the U.S. market for some 3,500 products from 140 developing economies *Negotiating Trade and Investment Framework Agreements that establish a framework for expanding trade and resolving outstanding disputes *Negotiating bilateral investment treaties with interested countries by obligating governments to tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Trade Area
A free-trade area is the region encompassing a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free trade agreement (FTA). Such agreements involve cooperation between at least two countries to reduce trade barriers, import quotas and tariffs, and to increase trade of goods and services with each other. If natural persons are also free to move between the countries, in addition to a free-trade agreement, it would also be considered an open border. It can be considered the second stage of economic integration. Customs unions are a special type of free-trade area. All such areas have internal arrangements which parties conclude in order to liberalize and facilitate trade among themselves. The crucial difference between customs unions and free-trade areas is their approach to third parties. While a customs union requires all parties to establish and maintain identical external tariffs with regard to trade with non-parties, parties to a free-trade area are not subject to this requiremen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oman–United States Free Trade Agreement
The U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement is a trade pact between Oman and the United States. On November 15, 2004, the George W. Bush administration notified the U.S. Congress of its intent to sign a trade agreement with the Middle Eastern Sultanate of Oman. On January 19, 2006 the two countries signed the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement (OFTA), which is part of the Bush administration's strategy to create a US - Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA) by 2013. On June 29, 2006, the U.S. Senate passed OFTA by a vote of 60-34, the fewest "aye" votes in the Senate of any trade bill other than CAFTA. On July 20, 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives passed OFTA by a vote of 221-205, with 7 abstentions. For procedural reasons, the Senate took a second vote on September 19, 2006, and the bill's implementing bill was passed 62-32, with 6 abstentions. In all, the Senate approved the bill 63-37, since all senators voted either "aye" or "nay" in one of the two votes. George W. Bush signed the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle East Economic Integration
Policies advocating Middle East economic integration aim to bring about peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East, which they believe can only be sustained over the long run via regional economic cooperation. Background Former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said that, "Governments can create the climate for economic growth... utonly the private sector can produce a peace that will endure." Benefits of integration Countries seek greater regional integration in order to: *make economic welfare gains, *increase the region's collective bargaining power in global issues, and *maintain security and prevent conflict. Economic integration requires good governance, education reform, social investing, knowledge economy, market economy, privatization and freedom of press. Objectives In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, a leading architect of the Oslo peace plan, envisioned that: The next stage, after bilateral and multilateral relationships have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Trade Blocs
A trade bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where barriers to trade (tariffs and others) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states. Trade blocs can be stand-alone agreements between several states (such as the North American Free Trade Agreement) or part of a regional organization (such as the European Union). Depending on the level of economic integration, trade blocs can be classified as preferential trading areas, free-trade areas, customs unions, common markets, or economic and monetary unions. Use Historic trading blocs include the Hanseatic League, a Northern European economic alliance between the 12th and 17th centuries, and the German Customs Union, formed on the basis of the German Confederation and subsequently the German Empire from 1871. Surges of trade bloc formation occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as in the 1990s after the collapse of Communism. By 1997, more than 50% of all ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Free Trade Agreements
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union club Other uses * Angle of list, the leaning to either port or starboard of a ship * List (information), an ordered collection of pieces of information ** List (abstract data type), a method to organize data in computer science * List on Sylt, previously called List, the northernmost village in Germany, on the island of Sylt * ''List'', an alternative term for ''roll'' in flight dynamics * To ''list'' a building, etc., in the UK it means to designate it a listed building that may not be altered without permission * Lists (jousting), the barriers used to designate the tournament area where medieval knights jousted * ''The Book of Lists'', an American series of books with unusual lists See also * The List (other) * Listing (d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle East Partnership Initiative
The U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is a United States State Department program that fosters meaningful and effective partnerships between citizens, civil society, the private sector, and governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to resolve local challenges and promote shared interests in the areas of participatory governance and economic opportunity and reform. Focusing on promoting stability and prosperity in the region, MEPI supports partnerships through projects that are responsive to emerging opportunities by being field-driven, applying evidence-based decision-making, and designing results-oriented projects. Four of MEPI's most prominent leadership programs are its annual Student Leaders program that brings students from all over the MENA region to participate in an intensive leadership training course of approximately 5 weeks in the United States, its Leaders for Democracy Fellowship program that provides early and mid-career professionals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Middle East
The Greater Middle East, is a political term, introduced in March 2004 in a paper by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as part of the U.S. administration's preparatory work for the Group of Eight summit of June 2004, denoting a vaguely defined region called the "Arab world" together with Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Turkey, and several other countries. The paper presented a proposal for sweeping change in the way the West deals with the Middle East and North Africa.Perthes, V., 2004America's "Greater Middle East" and Europe: Key Issues for Dialogue, ''Middle East Policy'', Volume XI, No.3, Pages 85–97. Previously, by Adam Garfinkle of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Greater Middle East had been defined as the MENA region together with Central Asia and the Caucasus. The future of this Greater Middle East has sometimes been referred to as the "new Middle East", first so by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who in Dubai in June 2006 presented the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a confidential, nonpartisan basis. CRS is sometimes known as Congress' think tank due to its broad mandate of providing research and analysis on all matters relevant to national policymaking. CRS has roughly 600 employees reflecting a wide variety of expertise and disciplines, including lawyers, economists, reference librarians, and scientists. In the 2016 fiscal year, it was appropriated a budget of roughly $106.9 million by Congress. CRS was founded during the height of the Progressive Era as part of a broader effort to professionalize the government by providing independent research and information to public officials. Its work was initially made available to the public, but between 1952 and 2018 was restricted only to members of Congr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arab Maghreb Union
The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) or simply the Maghreb Union (MU) ( ar, اتحاد المغرب العربي ', french: Union du Maghreb Arabe) is a political union and economic union trade agreement aiming for economic and future political unity among Arab countries States that are located primarily in the Maghreb in North Africa. Its members are the nations of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. The Union has been unable to achieve tangible progress on its goals due to deep economic and political disagreements between Morocco and Algeria regarding, among others, the issue of Western Sahara. No high level meetings have taken place since 3 July 2008, and commentators regard the Union as largely dormant. Creation The idea for an economic union of the Maghreb began with the independence of Tunisia and Morocco in 1956. It was not until thirty years later, though, that five Maghreb states—Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia—met for the first Maghreb summit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Council Of Arab Economic Unity
The Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) (Arabic: ) was founded by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen on May 30, 1964, following an agreement in 1957 by the Economic Council of the Arab League. Objectives According to The Economic Unity Agreement approved on June 3, 1957, the Council of Arab Economic Unity desires to "Organize and consolidate economic relations among the States of the Arab League on bases that are consistent with the natural and historical links among them; and to provide the best conditions for flourishing their economies, developing their resources and ensuring the prosperity of their countries." The bases of economic relations between states in the Council of Arab Economic Unity are outlined in Chapter 1, Articles 1 and 2 of The Economic Unity Agreement: Article 1 Article 1 delineates each member state's rights to: # Personal and capital mobility # Free exchange of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morocco–United States Free Trade Agreement
The US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (or Morocco FTA) is a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Morocco. The agreement was signed on June 15, 2004, followed by U.S. President George W. Bush's signing of the USMFTA Implementation Act on August 17, 2004. The United States House of Representatives ratified the pact on July 22, 2004 by a 323–99 vote. The United States Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent on July 21, 2004. The Morocco FTA came into effect on January 1, 2006. It was, as of 2011, one of nine free trade agreements entered into by the U.S. since 1985.Free Trade Agreements , Office of the United States Trade Representative Ustr.gov (2011-10-21). Retrieved on 2012-08-18. The agreement is aimed at increasing trade and creat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European part of Turkey), Egypt, Iran, the Levant (including Syria (region), Ash-Shām and Cyprus), Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), and the Socotra Governorate, Socotra Archipelago (a part of Yemen). The term came into widespread usage as a replacement of the term Near East (as opposed to the Far East) beginning in the early 20th century. The term "Middle East" has led to some confusion over its changing definitions, and has been viewed by some to be discriminatory or too Eurocentrism, Eurocentric. The region includes the vast majority of the territories included in the closely associated definition of Western Asia (including Iran), but without the South Caucasus, and additionally includes all of Egypt (not just the Sina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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