Egypt and Sudan's new trade agreement comes with territorial dispute
Egypt's foreign ministry spokesperson stresses that Halayeb and Shalateen
are two Egyptian cities when addressing Egyptian-Sudanese plan for economic
integration zone
Marina Barsoum,
Tuesday 9 Sep 2014
Egypt and Sudan are planning to make an "Economic Integration Zone" on the
borders of the two countries including Halayeb and Shalateen, Egypt's
foreign ministry spokesperson Badr Abdel Ati told Ahram Online.
He added that Halayeb and Shalateen are two Egyptian cities and that this is
not negotiable with the Sudanese.
There has been an ongoing dispute over the sovereignty of the two cities. An
independent Sudanese website, the Sudan Tribune, said on Sunday that the
Sudan National Elections Commission (NEC) intends to finalise the
delineation of geographical constituencies for the 2015 elections by
mid-September and revealed that the contested regions will be included
"We don't have a clear vision yet about this integration zone and we haven't
communicated with Sudanese officials," stressed Abdel Ati.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian foreign ministry stressed in a statement on Tuesday
that reports about Sudan's intention to include Halayeb and Shalateen in the
Sudanese geographical constituencies were "not official."
An economic integration zone is usually an area chosen between different
states to unify their economic policies through partial or full abolition of
tariff. This zone aims to lower prices for distributors and consumers and to
enhance the combined economic productivity of both states.
Trade exchange between Egypt and Sudan has reached approximately LE6 billion
(around $850 million) in 2013 according to Al-Ahram's daily newspaper.
There is also a new road linking the two countries known as Qostul-Ashkeet
that was opened last August and is expected to increase trade exchange to a
figure between LE14 and 21 billion ($2 to $3) annually within two years.