AmCham Egypt held a special luncheon in Alexandria at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Stefano. It was the first AmCham event to be held at the newly opened luxury hotel and many Chamber members traveled from Cairo for the occasion. Guest speaker, US ambassador Francis Ricciardone, who has served as American envoy to Cairo since July 2005, explained the importance of strong US-Egypt ties and discussed some of the best business practices utilized in Egypt to effectively promote prosperity and development.

He began with an overview of US-Egypt relations, noting that it is a multifaceted relationship with an important strategic role. “Americans value the role of Egypt in protecting the region, and promoting regional stability and peace. Americans value what Egypt did for the modern world by achieving a breakthrough for peace,” he said.

Strong monetary ties in terms of trade and foreign aid also bring the two countries together. Bilateral trade has been on the rise, growing by 47 percent, or $6.5 billion, since 2001, with near parity in the balance of trade. Ricciardone characterized the volume of trade as “good, but not good enough,” noting that the degree of bilateral relations would suggest more trade. By contrast, US trade with Turkey, which lacks Egypt’s wealth of oil and gas, is still double the amount between the US and Egypt.

In recent months, much attention has been given to US foreign aid to Egypt, which is gradually being phased out in favor of enhanced trade ties. While US military assistance has remained steady at around $1.3 billion a year, economic assistance has almost been halved over the last 10 years from $815 million a year to $415 million. Ricciardone said the public is reading too much into this. “The amount of US aid is not an effective measure of the health [of the] bilateral US-Egypt relationship,” he assured. On the contrary, the declining amount of economic aid should be viewed as a confidence in the Egyptian economy, which has shown marked improvement. “As we look at the future, we are looking at the great growth in our trade and moderating levels of aid on the economic side, where needs will clearly diminish,” he said. “Meanwhile, we will sustain military assistance for a great and a powerful country that we want to stay that way.”

Ricciardone explained how the American and Egyptian private sectors have allowed the countries to adapt and advance best business practices. He highlighted, as an example, the transference of the American model of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which involves businesses giving back to the community in which they work to improve the lives of its employees and society in ways that are good for business and development. Economic growth leads to CSR, and vice versa, he emphasized.

But CSR is also good for business, he said, as it promotes employee recruitment, motivation and retention. For these reasons, CSR is now widely acknowledged to be a smart management technique.

A similar trend, also rising in popularity, is socially responsible investment (SRI), meaning money is invested in funds that meet high standards for environmental and social care. Already, one in every eight dollars in professionally managed investments in the US is in SRI, Ricciardone said. This trend could extend to Egypt next, he added.

Ricciardone highlighted the success of the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) agreement, which allows Egyptian products quota- and duty-free access to the US market provided they contain a required percentage of Israeli content, currently 10.8 percent. The agreement has helped stimulate trade between Egypt and the US, particularly in the textile sector. More than 100,000 Egyptian workers are now employed in QIZ firms, he noted.

More trade and investment opportunities are on the horizon. The ambassador enumerated several upcoming Egyptian business missions, including a delegation comprised of the trade minister, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, and members from AmCham Egypt and the US-Egyptian Business Council. The delegates will travel to the US in November for meetings with American business and government leaders, including the secretary of state.

In closing, Ricciardone announced that the first annual Middle East and North Africa trade exhibition, featuring US-made products, services and technology, would be held this coming January in Cairo. He said the decision to hold this event in Cairo was in recognition of Egypt’s important role in the region. “I hope you recognize this as an act of confidence by the United States of America in Egypt and its future and this region.”

Ricciardone then proceeded to answer questions posed by audience members on various topics, including unfounded rumors about the health of President Hosni Mubarak, the role of the media, the status of US aid to Egypt being debated in Congress, the Middle East peace process and bilateral trade relations.