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AmCham Egypt’s message well received in Washington AmCham Egypt’s latest DoorKnock mission to Washington, DC took place during a crucial time for Egyptian-US relations, which had increasingly fallen under the shadow of intensified conflict in the Middle East region. Arriving in the US capital with a clear and focused message, the 22-member DoorKnock 2002 delegation witnessed a high level of interest and – despite the sensitivity of some of the issues being raised – received a generally positive response.

The mission, running from April 29 to May 3 under the title “Egypt: The Strategic Partner,” was meant to convey an Egyptian private sector point of view of the latest developments in the region and their impact on business and economic relations.

In meetings with senior Bush administration officials, members of Congress, leaders of think tanks and influential journalists, AmCham Egypt’s delegates emphasized the solid strategic relationship between Egypt and the United States, adding that this is bolstered by a strong commercial relationship. US exports to Egypt (coming from practically all 50 states) are worth around $3.5 billion per year, compared to $900 million worth of imports from Egypt. In addition, the United States is Egypt’s second largest source of foreign direct investment.

Since signing the Camp David accords in 1979, Egypt has consistently supported the pursuit of comprehensive regional peace and stability. Currently, however, violence and instability in the occupied Palestinian territories are affecting US interests and US companies around the Middle East. The DoorKnock delegation urged the US government to take a more direct and consistent role in Middle East affairs in order to curb the violence in the Occupied Territories and revive the peace process.

In a wide variety of meetings and venues, delegation members said that Israelis and Palestinians would not be able to reach a peaceful resolution of the conflict on their own, and that the United States must exert its influence to bring about a fair, viable and lasting peace, which would permit stability and improve economic prospects throughout the region.

This was not a message that policymakers expected to hear from a business organization, and as such, it resonated strongly.

DoorKnock delegations have been going to Washington for the past 20 years in an effort to provide a picture of the business environment in Egypt. This year, however, discussion of regional political questions seemed imperative.

The timing was crucial. With violence between Palestinians and Israelis intensifying and the US-led war against international terrorism continuing unabated, American policymakers were more focused than usual on the Middle East.

“Given this environment, we had debated whether this was the right time to conduct our mission,” AmCham Egypt president Mohamed Mansour acknowledged. “In retrospect, however, we believe that the instability in the region made this precisely the time when we most needed to visit Washington.”

Participants in the mission resolved that such visits need to occur more often, and several US officials indicated that the delegation’s message should be repeated as frequently and broadly as possible. Perspectives from the Arab world are rarely presented in Washington, compared to the ongoing contact maintained by pro-Israeli groups.

DoorKnock 2002 consisted of more than 80 meetings with a wide range of officials and policymakers in Washington. AmCham Egypt executives exchanged views with Vice President Dick Cheney and Republican Party chairman Marc Racicot, while various groups of AmCham Egypt delegates met with more than 40 members of the House of Representatives and five senators.

In a key meeting at the Department of State, members of the delegation discussed issues of concern with Undersecretary Alan Larson, assistant secretaries William Burns and Tony Wayne, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Stuart Holliday and Deputy Assistant Secretary Liz Cheney.

AmCham Egypt delegates also met with Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao; Deputy Secretary Samuel Bodman at the Department of Commerce; Deputy Secretary Kenneth Dam at the Treasury Department; Assistant Secretary Peter Rodman, Department of Defense; Associate Deputy Secretary Jeffrey Shane, Department of Transportation; and at the Department of Energy, Randa Fahmy Hudome, the secretary’s special assistant for international affairs.

Another aspect of the delegation’s message was to point out the successes achieved by USAID in Egypt over the past 25 years and to underline the continued importance of AID, given the negative impact of current regional tensions on the Egyptian economy. In response to these points, USAID deputy administrator Frederick Schiek gave assurances that assistance to Egypt would continue, and that new AID programs in Central Asia would not come at the expense of traditional programs.

Concerns about regional politics by no means prevented discussion of economic issues. Egypt’s prospects for a Free Trade Agreement with the United States were raised with Assistant US Trade Representative Cathy Novelli, while other trade-related issues were at the forefront of meetings with Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) president Peter Watson and US Export-Import Bank vice president David Chavern.

Meetings with officials at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund focused on Egypt’s current fiscal situation amid the ongoing tensions in the region.

All 22 members of the AmCham Egypt delegation appeared at a briefing sponsored by Congressmen John Dingell (D-Michigan), Ray Lahood (R-Illinois) and Darrell Issa (R-California), and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio). Five other members of the House of Representatives and several key congressional staffers also attended. The hour-long exchange of views proved to be one of the high points of this year’s mission.

On the first day of the mission, the delegation was honored at a luncheon hosted by Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, where AmCham Egypt president Mansour spoke to an audience of over 70 people, including senior congressional staffers, about the goals of the DoorKnock 2002 mission. Former US ambassador Edward Walker concurred with Mansour about the need for greater communication at all levels between the United States and its Arab allies, while US Chamber of Commerce vice president Greg Lebedev reiterated the need for peace and stability as a prerequisite for successful trade in any part of the world.

Towards the end of the week, Ambassador Nabil Fahmy hosted a reception in honor of the delegation at the Egyptian Embassy, where Mansour and Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce Timothy Hauser spoke about the importance of US-Egyptian economic and business relations before an audience of 200 Washington policymakers and business leaders.

In addition, individual meetings were held with officials at 10 think tanks and public policy centers. AmCham Egypt delegates also met with the heads of the two leading Arab American advocacy groups to discuss possible avenues for future cooperation.

Meetings with the Wall Street Journal’s Washington bureau chief Gerald Seib and columnist Albert Hunt, as well as with USA Today diplomatic correspondent Barbara Slavin, provided the opportunity for members of the delegation to present their message on the urgency of reaching a regional peace settlement to a wider segment of the US public.

AmCham Egypt stands primarily for achieving economic growth and prosperity by fostering increased trade between Egypt and the United States. As the DoorKnock delegation pointed out throughout its week-long mission, economic development and commercial success can only be achieved in an environment of peace and stability in the Middle East. As one of the strongest voices of the Egyptian private sector, AmCham Egypt remains committed to working with its partners and friends in the United States to achieve these shared objectives.

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