The Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) (Arabic: ) was founded by

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

, Mauritania, Palestine,

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, Sudan,

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, Syria,

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

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 goods and products # Exercise of residence and economic endeavors (work, employment, etc.) # Transit and use of ports and airports # Possession and inheritance Article 2 Article 2 behoves the signatories of The Economic Unity Agreement to work towards the objectives specified in Article 1 by: # Merging into a unified customs area # Unifying their import and export policies # Unifying their regulations with regard to transit # Jointly negotiating agreements with other states # Unifying and coordinating legislation to achieve equal conditions of agriculture, industry and trade among member states # Coordinating legislation with regard to labor and social security # (a) Coordinating "government and municipal taxes and duties and all taxes pertaining to agriculture, industry, trade, real estate, and capital investments" to achieve equivalent business climates among member states; (b) Avoiding double-taxing nationals of member states # Coordinating monetary and fiscal policies # Unifying "statistical methods of classification and tabulations" # Adopting any other measures consistent with the stated objectives of Articles 1 and 2

Agadir Agreement

"The Agadir Agreement" for the establishment of a

free trade zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to cu ...

between the Arab Mediterranean Nations was signed in Rabat,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

on 25 February 2004. The agreement aimed at establishing free trade between

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and

which was seen as a first potential step in the formation of the

Euro-Mediterranean free trade area The European Union-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EU-MED FTA, EMFTA), also called the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area or Euromed FTA, is based on the Barcelona Process and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The Barcelona Process, developed ...

as envisaged in the

Barcelona Process The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM; french: Union pour la Méditerranée, ar, الإتحاد من أجل المتوسط ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the M ...

. The Agreement aims to establish a Free Trade Area among the member states, in addition to increase intra-trade on one hand and with the European Union on the other. It also aims to enhance industrial integration among the Arab Mediterranean countries through the Implementation of the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean rules of origin and the utilization of the principle of cumulation of origin. This will enhance the member states’ export capacity towards the EU market and boost attraction for more foreign and European direct investment. in 2016, the membership of Palestine and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

was approved at the third meeting of Agadir member ministers.

Greater Arab Free Trade Area

The "Greater Arab Free Trade Area" (GAFTA) is a pan-Arab free trade zone that came into existence in 1997. It was founded by 14 countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.Afifi, Tamer Mohamed Ahmed (2007:19): The Challenge of Implementing the Overlapping Regional Trade Agreements in Egypt, Cuvillier Verlag, Goettingen. The formation of GAFTA followed the adoption of the "Agreement to Facilitate and Develop Trade Among Arab Countries" (1981) by the Arab League's Economic and Social Council (ESC) and the approval by seventeen Arab League member-states at a summit in Amman,

of the "Greater Arab Free Trade Area Agreement" (1997). In 2009,

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

joined GAFTA as the eighteenth member-state. GAFTA is supervised and run by the ESC. The members participate in 96% of the total internal

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

trade, and 95% with the rest of the world by applying the following conditions: #Instruct the inter-customs fees: #:To reduce the customs on Arab products by 10% annually, the 14 Arab states reported their custom tariff programs to the Security Council of the Arab League to coordinate them. Syria was excepted and uses the Brussels tariffs system. #Applying the locality of the Arab products: #:All members have shared their standards and specifications to help their products move smoothly from one country to another. #:The League has also created a project to apply the Arab

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

Pact: #:Which is to share the standards of the agricultural sector and inject several restrictions and specifications. #:The Arab League granted exceptions, which allowed for a customs rate for certain goods to six members for several goods, however requests for additional exceptions were rejected by

and

. #Private sectors: #:The League created a database and a service to inform and promote the private sector's benefits. #Communication: #:The Economic and Social Council in its sixty-fifth meeting agreed on pointing a base for communication to ease communication between member states, and to work on easing interaction between the private and public sectors to further apply the Greater Arab Free Trade Area. #Customs Duties: #:In the sixty-seventh meeting the Economic and Social Council agreed that a 40% decrease on customs on goods in the past 4 years of the GAFTA would continue and following the decisions at the Amman summit, the members will make efforts to eliminate all customs duties on local goods.

References

External links

*http://www.amf.org.ae/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20080506173842/http://www.arableagueonline.org/las/arabic/details_ar.jsp?art_id=124&level_id=110 {{DEFAULTSORT:Council Of Arab Economic Unity Arab organizations Organizations established in 1964 Arab League Economy of the Arab League International economic organizations International organizations based in the Middle East Trade blocs Treaties concluded in 1957 Treaties entered into force in 1964 1964 in economics

Objectives

Agadir Agreement

Greater Arab Free Trade Area

See also

References

External links