Arab economists have recently criticized the growth of trade between Arab countries and Israel while inter-Arab trade has remained low for the last 15 years.

According to official data published by Israel’s Statistical Bureau, the volume of trade between Jordan and Egypt, on the one hand, and Israel, on the other hand, registered, in 2007, a growth of 42.8% compared with the trade volume in 2006. The total trade between the three countries was $541 million, divided between Israel-Jordan at $306.9 and Israel-Egypt at $234.1 million. There is also trade between Israel and a number of other Arab countries, but no figures were made public for political reasons. Dr. Abdul Rahman Yasri, head of the economics department at Alexandria University said the trade figures with Israel conceal the re-branding of Israeli goods that go to North Africa through France and Spain or to Syria and Iraq through Cyprus.

The Arab Economic Unity Council states that the inter-Arab trade volume does not exceed 8.5-10.0% of the total non-oil trade of the Arab countries estimated at $253 billion, and has not increased in years. The low trade volume between Arab countries reflects the lack of political will to enforce economic unity and the poor quality of goods produced in Arab counties.

al-Sharq, February 20, 2008