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Egypt & the US Investing in Partnership
AmCham DoorKnock Mission to Washington DC, March 2006
Doorknock report
AmCham Egypt’s DoorKnock Mission to Washington took place from March 8 to 14, 2006, under the theme of “Egypt & the US: Investing in partnership.” The delegation visited Washington DC during a time when issues related to the Middle East dominated the foreign policy agenda in Washington. The recent Hamas election victory in Palestine combined with continuing unrest in Iraq generated a mood of anticipation in Washington about the nation’s foreign policy, as well as a “wait-and-see” attitude concerning the Middle East.
Prospects for a US-Egypt Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have worsened since our last visit to Washington in March 2005. Americans who follow Egypt closely are aware of the economic reforms Egypt has enacted and the degree to which Egypt qualifies for an FTA on purely economic criteria. The AmCham delegation told US officials it met with about the recent economic reforms undertaken, including streamlining of customs and taxation, as well as bank restructuring and various financial sector developments. But the criteria have changed, and FTA negotiations are now contingent upon political reform.
Our response to concerns about democratization in Egypt was to point out that Egypt is moving in the right direction and shares broad US objectives. We stressed that many people in Egypt – and especially those in the private sector and business community – genuinely support political reform.
However, we emphasized that the US and Egypt should work together on these issues in a spirit of friendship and alliance that is based on support and encouragement. The methods and timing of Egypt’s political evolution must reflect the reality of Egypt. We believe that we have made some real progress in achieving this goal, but we also recognize that it is an ongoing mission.
Despite the lack of progress on FTA negotiations, we were continually told that the US-Egypt relationship remains strong and that Egypt continues to be a friend and a key ally of the US. Many of those who have been critical of Egypt still consider themselves to be friends of Egypt. A few people told us that Egypt is the target of criticism precisely because it is such an important nation and is so vital to US policy in the region, and thus is held to higher standards and expectations.
In addition to these individual meetings, AmCham Egypt was hosted at a reception organized by the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce, and a breakfast briefing organized jointly by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Washington office of ExxonMobil Corporation. Ambassador Nabil Fahmy also hosted a seminar titled “Egypt’s economic reform: Recent developments and impact on Bilateral Relations.” The ambassador, the Honorable Michael Kantor, former USTR and US secretary of commerce, as well as Taher Helmy, were among the speakers on the panel.
We once again took note of the fact that the personal relationships created by the visits to Egypt of some 70 members of congress staff that AmCham has organized and hosted proved extremely helpful in arranging meetings in Washington and in communicating Egypt’s perspective. We found that congressmen whose staffers had been hosted by AmCham Egypt had a more discerning view of the status of reforms in Egypt, and a deeper understanding of the overall situation. This growing network of congressional staffers is becoming a reliable and dedicated source of support for Egypt within Congress, and should not be underestimated as an asset for Egypt in Washington. We encouraged each of the members of Congress and staff with whom we met to visit Egypt, and are planning to follow up with many of them who expressed an interest in doing so.
ON THE AGENDA
During five days, the AmCham DoorKnock delegation held over 75 meetings with officials and policymakers in Washington, including:
25 members of the US Congress, as well as 18 Congressional staffers. Our meetings included:
- Chairman of the House Rules Committe
- 7 Members of the House International Relations Committee
- 6 Members of the House Ways & Means Committee
- 2 Members of the House Armed Services Committee
- 2 Members of the House Appropriations Committee
- 1 Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
- Deputy National Security Adviser (NSC) and Special Assistant to the President for the Middle East and North Africa
- Assistant to Vice President Cheney for National Security Affairs
- Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
- Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near
- Eastern Affairs
- Assistant US Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East
- Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
- Acting Administrator of USAID
- Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade
- Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
- Deputy Administrator for International Trade, US
Department of Agriculture
- President of the Aspen Institute
- President of the Middle East Institute
- President of the Institute for International Economics
- Counselor of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy
- President of the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) and the Director of the CSIS Middle East Program
- Director of the Trade and Global Policies Project of the Progressive Policy Institute
- Vice President for Foreign Policy and Defense Studies,
American Enterprise Institute
- Vice President of the Center for Trade Policy Research
of the CATO Institute
- Former NSC Director Gen. (ret.) Brent Scowcroft
Delegation members
Taher S. Helmy
President – AmCham Egypt
Partner, Helmy, Hamza & Partners
(Baker & McKenzie)
James Pringle
Executive Vice President – AmCham Egypt
Senior Counselor, M.A. Kharafi Group
M. Gamal Moharam
Executive Vice President – AmCham Egypt
Chairman and CEO, Piraeus Bank – Egypt
Hamed Ismail Fahmy
Vice President, Membership – AmCham Egypt
Managing Director, Allied Corporation Egypt
Ahmed M. G. Abou Ali
Vice President, Legal Affairs – AmCham Egypt
Attorney at Law, Partner, Hassouna & Abou Ali Law Firm
Omar A. Mohanna
Treasurer – AmCham Egypt
Chairman, Suez Cement
Cherine Scandar
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
President and CEO, SODECO Group
Loula Zaklama
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
President and Managing Director, RadaResearch & Public Relations Co.
Karim Ramadan
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
General Manager, Microsoft Egypt
Tom Walter
Member of the Board – AmCham Egypt
Chairman and Managing Director of Fuels
Marketing, ExxonMobil Egypt
Hisham A. Fahmy
Executive Director – AmCham Egypt
Amr A. Kabil
Group Vice President
National Stevedoring Group
Amro Altahwi
President and CEO, Adamson Brothers
Curtis A. Ferguson
Division President, North & West Africa Division, The Coca-Cola Company
Don Butler
Chairman and Managing Director, General Motors Egypt, SAE
Farid F. Naoom
Owner and President, Rainbow – Cairo, Egypt
Guy M. Bourn
Vice President, Sokhna Port Development
Company
Major General. US Army (retired)
Hala El Barkouky
Founder and Managing Partner, Allied
Business Consultants
Hassan M. Hussein
Chairman, The International Investment Advisor (TIIA)
Hatem Ezzat Kheir
General Manager, Kheir Group
Mohamed Abdallah
Chair, Real Estate Committee – AmCham Egypt
President, Coldwell Banker Affiliates of the
Middle East
Mohamed Taha Mostafa
Treasurer, Egyptian American Bank (EAB)
Nawal Kelada
Management Consultant, Middle East
Courier Service
Philip N. Diehl
Senior Vice President and Partner, Fleishman-Hillard, Middle East/North Africa
Serena Hylton
Vice President North Africa, Trans-Arabian
Creative Communication Services (TRACCS)
Managing Director, TRACCS Egypt
Soheir Farahat
President, Ingyco Agencies
Tarek Elrefai
Senior Representative, Client Management,
The Bank of New York – Cairo Representative Office
Thomas (Tom) E. Thomason
Vice President, Globeleq/Sidi Krir
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