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DoorKnock Mission to Washington D.C. March 2005
Doorknock report
In March, a delegation of 40 prominent members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham) visited Washington, D.C. for the chamber’s annual DoorKnock mission. The tradition, which dates back over 20 years, provides members of the Egyptian business community the opportunity to have frank, in-person meetings with members of the U.S. administration, Congress, think tanks and multilateral organizations with the aim of enhancing the bilateral relationship between Egypt and the United States.
This year, DoorKnock delegates held over 100 high-profile meetings from March 6 to 12 with officials and policymakers in Washington. There were also several well-attended events hosted by AmCham Egypt to facilitate meetings with advisers and aides to several strategic political heavyweights.
A highlight of the mission was a luncheon in which Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid, whose visit to the U.S. coincided with the mission, discovered increased commercial and trade relations between Egypt and the U.S. The event was attended by several hundred U.S. business and foreign policy leaders.
U.S. officials and policymakers expressed intense interest in what DoorKnock delegates had to say. This interest stemmed, in part, from current U.S. involvement in the Middle East region, as well as a number of significant developments, including elections in Iraq, the resumption of peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials and grassroots efforts in Lebanon to force
Syrian troops out of the country.
At the same time, many expected that the momentum that the Egyptian economy has been gaining since the appointment of the Nazif cabinet last July would carry over through the DoorKnock mission. While this was the case to some extent, rumblings in Washington over a few political issues were heard. The preoccupation with these political issues, particularly the arrest of opposition leader Ayman Nour, required the mission to exert effort towards restoring the image of Egypt. This was accomplished by focusing on Egypt’s recent economic achievements as opposed to viewing the country solely in light of political concerns.
It’s no secret that Washington believes democratization in the Middle East region is the key to guaranteeing U.S. security concerns. Egypt has enjoyed a strong economic and strategic relationship with the U.S. for almost 30 years. However, while Egypt’s long-standing relationship with the U.S. remains strong, officials in Washington pointed out that it may no longer be sufficient to promote closer economic cooperation between the two countries. This point was of particular significance considering the anticipated free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between Egypt and the U.S.
Mission members found a warmer reception of the idea of an Egypt-U.S. FTA during this visit to Washington. U.S. policymakers pointed out that the Nazif cabinet’s economic reform efforts were a positive development that would speed up the start of negotiations. They were particularly impressed with reforms to customs and tariffs policies, as well as the proposed tax reforms. They viewed the signing of the qualifying industrial zones (QIZ) agreement between Egypt, Israel and the U.S. as indication of Egypt’s fresh commitment to engage in negotiations with the U.S. and its counterparts on all issues pertaining to free trade.
One of the goals of DoorKnock missions is to expand the support for Egypt, both directly through policymakers and indirectly through their circles of support. As such, AmCham hosted several events for House and Senate staffers designed to increase their familiarization of issues pertaining to Egypt. The mission hosted a luncheon briefing for senior staffers of the House International Relations Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee. Another luncheon was held for senior staffers of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Since these committees play a fundamental role in expanding economic relations between the two countries, keeping senior staffers of both the Senate and the House abreast of the rapid changes currently taking place in the Egyptian economy helps to deepen their understanding of Egypt as a whole. The unexpectedly high turnout was an indicator of the increased interest in Egypt.
An informal dinner was held for Congressional staffers who previously visited Egypt during specific missions arranged by AmCham. The staffers reiterated that these visits were particularly helpful in increasing their awareness of issues currently unfolding in the country. They also explained that the opportunity to meet senior officials and decisionmakers during these visits provides them firsthand insight that they cannot get from simply reading academic articles or compiled reports.
The mission also held meetings with leading U.S. think tanks and policy centers, which play a fundamental role in advising policymakers on countries of interest. The idea was to encourage open and frank discussion in which DoorKnock delegates could explain Egypt and its policies through the eyes of the private sector, which is the most directly affected by them.
A number of think tanks invited DoorKnock delegates to give presentations. Two delegates presented views on the energy sector in North Africa during a conference hosted by the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and the United States Egypt Friendship Society. The Washington office of the Council on Foreign Relations hosted a breakfast briefing for the delegates, while the Institute for International Economics hosted delegates for the launch of the second phase of a study entitled “U.S.-Egypt Free Trade Agreement.”
Many in Washington made it clear that the U.S. would still like to see Egypt continue to play a strategic role in newly revived Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Egypt, which traditionally has been active in trying to find middle ground between the Palestinians and Israelis, has played a less active role in the process over the past four years. The general feeling in Washington was that Egypt should not be passive and should resume its suspended role as the peacemaker.
At the same time, Egypt was praised for redeploying its envoy to Israel, particularly as other Arab countries tend to use Egypt’s policies towards Israel as the benchmark for their own relations with Israel. While Iraq was a central issue during the 2004 DoorKnock, the issue hardly came up during this visit, perhaps due to a perception that the situation in Iraq is improving in light of recent elections.
Although the mission was a success in terms of the number of meetings held and the number of events attended, there was some disappointment that Washington’s preoccupation with political issues overshadowed dramatic and positive economic reforms. However, many of the delegates expressed particular optimism, pointing to the increased interest in the country despite the preoccupation with politics. The positive developments in Egypt’s economy simply could not be ignored and the number of senior officials who took the time to meet with the mission members indicates that Egypt is still viewed as a strategic partner in the region, in spite of the concerns. Moreover, the receptiveness of the officials to upcoming FTA negotiations can be seen as a big thumbs up and reward for the current steps the government is taking to liberalize and reform the economy.
ON THE AGENDA
During the 2005 AmCham DoorKnock mission to Washington, delegation members held over 100 meetings with U.S. officials and policymakers. These included:
- 45 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including the chairman and six members of the House International Relations Middle East Subcommittee; a senior Democrat on the House International Relations Committee; six members of the Ways & Means Subcommittee; and a senior Democrat on the Ways & Means Committee
- 3 U.S. senators
- Senior foreign policy and Middle East advisers to Vice President Dick Cheney
- Deputy director and Middle East director of the National Security Council
- Principal deputy assistant to state for Near East affairs
- Deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for international trade and investment
- Assistant administrator of USAID
- Deputy undersecretary of commerce
- Assistant secretary of defence for international security affairs
- Director of international affairs of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration
- Deputy administrator for international trade, U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Editor and deputy editor of the Washington Post editorial page
- New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
- Country economist for Egypt at the World Bank
- Member of the board and the representative of Arab countries at the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- President of the Aspen Institute
- President of the Middle East Institute
- Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy
- Director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies
- Vice president for foreign policy and defense studies at the American Enterprise Institute
- Vice president of the Center for Trade Policy research at the CATO Institute
- The editor of the Near East Report at AIPAC
- Former NSC director general (retired) Brent Scowcroft
- Member of the board at the U.S. Export-Import Bank
- Editor of the Arab Reform Bulletin at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Research fellow at the Heritage Foundation
- Reporters and editors from the Financial Times, USA Today, The Hill, Reuters, National Journal and the Near East Report
Setting up all these meetings required a lot of coordination. To put the amount of work involved into context, one of AmCham’s organizers sent more than 328 e-mails and received 286 e-mails, and made scores of phone calls to help arrange these meetings.
Delegation members
Taher S. Helmy
President – AmCham Egypt
Partner, Helmy, Hamza & Partners
(Baker & McKenzie)
D. Dan McCarthy
Executive Vice President – AmCham Egypt
Chairman and Managing Director, General Motors Egypt, SAE
M. Gamal Moharam
Executive Vice President – AmCham Egypt
Managing Director, Egyptian Commercial Bank
ANIS ACLIMANDOS
Vice President, Membership – AmCham Egypt
President, TransCentury Associates
THOMAS (TOM) E. THOMASON
Vice President, Legal Affairs – AmCham Egypt
Vice President, Globeleq
HESHAM MEKAWI
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
Chairman, BP Egypt
MOHAMED TAYMOUR
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
Chairman, EFG-Hermes Holdings
LOULA ZAKLAMA
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
President and Managing Director,
RadaResearch & Public Relations Co.
Rodney J. Eichler
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
Executive Vice President, Apache Corporation,
General Manager, Apache, Egypt Region
James Pringle
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
Senior Counselor, M.A. Kharafi Group
HISHAM A. FAHMY
Executive Director – AmCham Egypt
AHMED BADRAWI
Managing Director, InfoFort Egypt
AHMED M. EL HAKIM
Health Policy & External Affairs Director,
Pfizer Egypt and Middle East Region
AHMED M.G. ABOU ALI
Chairman, Legal Affairs Committee – AmCham Egypt
Attorney at Law, Partner,
Hassouna & Abou Ali Law Firm
AKRAM E. FARAG
Co-Chair, Communications & Information Technology Committee – AmCham Egypt
Chairman and Managing Director,
Digital Systems Middle East, SAE
AL-FAHD AL-TARZI
Corporate Finance Manager, MIBC Group
Alaa Hashim
Chief Operating Officer and Board Member, MAC Carpets
ANISSA E. HASSOUNA
Assistant General Manager,
Misr Iran Development Bank
Ashraf M. El Attal
Chair, Trade & Commerce Committee – AmCham Egypt
Chairman and CEO of Egyptian Traders Co., SAE
Bassem Sultan
Managing Director,
Egyptian International Company for Knitting
& Dyeing (Dyetex)
Cherine SCANDAR
President and CEO, SODECO Group
Emad El Din Taymour
Owner and President, AMENT Co. Egypt
Farid F. Naoom
Co-Chair, Transport Committee – AmCham Egypt
Owner and President, Rainbow-Cairo, Egypt
HALA EL BARKOUKY
Founder and Managing Partner,
Allied Business Consultants
HAMED ISMAIL FAHMY
Managing Director, Allied Corporation Egypt
HATEM ezzat KHEIR
General Manager, Kheir Group
Kamal Ibrahim
President, American Orthopedic Consultants, LLC
KHALED ABUBAKR
Chairman, Petroleum Committee – AmCham Egypt
Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Genco Group
Lobna El Dessouky
Chief Financial Officer, Coca-Cola Egypt
MAHA ABOUELENEIN
Co-Chair, Women in Business Committee –
AmCham Egypt
Managing Director, Organizational Consultants Inc.
Mahmoud Salama
Partner and Director, Ferromisr
MOHAMED ABDALLAH
Co-Chair, Real Estate Committee – AmCham Egypt
President, Coldwell Banker Affiliates of the Middle East
MOHAMED S. ROUSHDY
Regional Director, Pfizer Middle East
MOHAMED TAHA MOSTAFA
Treasurer, Egyptian American Bank (EAB)
Mohammed h. Magued, PHD, PENG
Chairman and Managing Director, Egyptian Banks Company for Technological Advancement
OMAR MOHANNA
Chairman, Global Protection
SOHEIR FARAHAT
Co-Chair, Maritime Committee – AmCham Egypt
President, Ingyco Agencies
TAREK M. AHMED SELIM
Co-Chair, Environment Committee – AmCham Egypt
Egypt Manager, Area Manager – Africa & Central Asia,
Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM) International, Inc.
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