Arab intra- trade and the impact of political changes in some Arab countries on the trade exchange of some agricultural food commodities

Transcription

1 Middle East Journal of Agriculture Research ISSN Volume : 07 Issue : 04 Oct.-Dec Pages: Arab intra- trade and the impact of political changes in some Arab countries on the trade exchange of some agricultural food commodities Ahlam A. Hassan Agricultural Economics Department, Agricultural and Biological Division, National Research Centre, 33 EL Bohouth St., Dokki, Giza, Egypt, Postal Code: Received: 25 Sept / Accepted 30 Oct / Publication date: 15 Nov ABSTRACT The success and efficiency of foreign trade and achieving surplus goal of each country, because the purpose of agriculture, and industry and even other sectors are trade, and the efficiency of trade reflected not only on the national economy, but also on the individual economy, and thus on the standard of living of individuals in this country, and the rise of people's livelihood, and achieve the satisfaction of living In the society, many social problems and negative phenomena are prevented, provided that justice is achieved in the distribution of income. One of the reasons for the Arab revolutions that occurred alongside the political reasons is the high rate of poverty, and unemployment in society for Tunisia, Egypt and Syria. The lack of justice in the distribution of wealth of the state and the large disparity between the classes of society is one of the most important reasons for the revolution in Libya. So the problem of the study was the weakness of intra-arab trade, Therefore, The study was aimed to identify the current status of foreign trade in some Arab countries, especially countries where political changes have occurred, though some indicators that reflect their foreign trade status, and efficiency such as economic coverage, dependence, trade balance (deficit or surplus), intra-trade and trade compatibility, through Statistical data published on the website of the Arab Organization, FAO and the United Nations. The study showed a decline in the gross domestic product of most of the country. This decline is an indicator and evidence of the low standard of living of the members in these countries, The increase in the deficit in the trade balance of most of the studied countries, and the increase in this deficit during the two study periods in particular countries that have undergone political changes, except for Libya, which achieved 25 billion surplus in the first period decreased to 7 billion in the second period, The low economic coverage of most countries, the rise in the economic dependency indicator, and the low economic participation rate, with the exception of some countries such as the UAE and Qatar. The intra-oic trade between these countries is not commensurate with the privileges and resources available in these countries, although the percentage of opportunities for integration is large. These ratios are small, The highest percentage was achieved in Syria, Jordan, and Egypt at (8.1%, 7.99% and 3%, ) respectively, and a minimum of zero in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Libya during the first period, And in the second period has seen a decline in this ratio in all countries, this indicates the increased opportunities for possible or available for integration, that the countries where the proportion of intra-exports to the total exports is the highest in the proportion of opportunities for integration and vice versa, The percentage of opportunities for integration was highest in Qatar 100% and lowest in Sudan 53% in the first period. But in the second period, it was in Saudi Arabia and Qatar 100% and 98% in Tunisia. Therefore, the study recommends increasing the percentage of intra-arab trade for many considerations including strengthening the Arab economy, Arab relations, and Arab food security. Keywords: Arab intra- trade, GDP, Arab Foreign Trade. Introduction Egypt's foreign policy aims to develop economic relations with various countries of the world, as well as opening wide horizons for international and regional cooperation on the basis of mutual interests. In this context, Egypt joined the World Trade Organization, The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa(COMESA), Participation in the 15 Developing Countries Group, The Group of Eight Islamic Countries, as well as a partnership agreement with the United States of Corresponding Author: Ahlam A. Hassan, Agricultural Economics Department, Agricultural and Biological Division, National Research Centre, 33 EL Bohouth St., Dokki, Giza, Egypt, Postal Code: dr.ahlam_nrc@hotmail.com 1359

2 America, and cooperation agreements with some Asian countries such as China, Japan and South Korea. Research problem: Despite the strong relations, geographical dimension, In addition to the various economic and trade agreements, and other considerations such as the unity of language and religion among the Arab countries, but the size of interaction and cooperation and trade between these countries is very small does not fit with these many advantages, and in recent period there have been political changes in the world these changes included Some Arab countries as (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Yemen), These political changes have led to economic and social changes. The Trade exchange among the Arab countries is not based on comparative advantage, price, competitiveness and economic criteria only in trade among the Arab countries, but it has other criteria related to the political trends of the state. Research Objective: Study economic and trade relations among (Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Morocco, Yemen, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and Qatar), Which has political positions and relative economic importance before and after these political changes, and also there are countries between them and Egypt bilateral trade agreements, The objective is to know whether these agreements have positive or negative effects or have no effect on Egyptian agricultural trade, and measuring these effects is found in comparison to some agricultural Food products trade to study the direction of trade exchange, and to assess the impact of these changes on the trade balance of these countries, and trade exchange between them, and whether it is in the interest of the trade balance of these countries during the period , and study the economic structure of Arab intraagricultural trade,and the relative importance of agricultural trade among that countries. Methodology and Data Source: The study used the economic descriptive analysis method, in addition to some standard methods of some indicators of foreign trade efficiency, such as index of the average inclination of import and export, coverage rate, dependency rate, a degree of economic participation and integration opportunities. The study relied on published secondary data published by the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, Data published on FAO's website, and statistical data published on the UN website. First: The main features of Egypt's economy and some Arab countries Study period ( ), ( ) National Income and Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Table (1) shows the total national income of some countries is higher than GDP, such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt, where the total national income amounted to about 288, 483, 136 and 179 billion pounds respectively during the first period ( ). The gross domestic product (GDP) of these countries for the same period reached 284.5, , and billion pounds respectively, and the increase in national income from GDP means that these countries have investments abroad, so their income is a return to these countries. In contrast, the investments of these countries from abroad are low. Consequently, their GDP is low, because the basis for calculating the GDP is that the production was done with locally available resources inside the country during a certain period of time, but the national income is calculated on the basis of locally owned resources, regardless of the place where the product was made. Therefore, the income generated by the investment of its resources outside the country within a given period of time is calculated from the following equation: (national income = GDP + value inflows of non-resident - outflows of non-resident), Thus, there are countries in which there are large foreign investments on their land and do not have investments abroad, which leads to an increase in the GDP and does not add to the national income. According to this index, other countries that increase the value of national income from GDP are characterized by investments 1360

3 abroad, their income return to these countries. However, in the second period , the same countries have increased the value of national income and GDP to the same level for the UAE, but for other countries similar in the economic pattern the difference has decreased, and other countries with a different economic pattern and the higher the value of GDP than national income increased Of national income and domestic output, but the difference has declined, and the increase in GDP is an indicator and evidence of the high standard of living in the country, However, But countries, where political changes have occurred such as Tunisia, Libya and Syria, national income and domestic output, increased slightly in the second period. But in Libya, it decreased by 73.17% in the second period, and Syria decreased in the second period by 71.7 %. The agricultural GDP of these countries Table (1) shows that agricultural GDP ranged between the upper limit and achieved in Egypt with a value of (22.62 and 20.93) billion respectively in the two periods mentioned above and the minimum achievement in Qatar (0.13, 0.18) ) For the same period. In general, the value of the agricultural output of all countries increased in both periods. For countries where political changes have occurred such as Tunisia, Libya, and Syria, where agricultural output declined during the two periods for Tunisia 56%, Libya decreased agricultural output by 85%, and Syria agricultural output fell by 71.5% from the first period before the political changes. per capita of GDP and agricultural output: Table (2) shows the per capita of gross domestic product (GDP) and the agricultural output of all countries in general increased during the two periods, but only slightly as a result of the increase in the population in these countries during that study period, Except Syria, the per capita of GDP declined in the second period after the events by 65.38% compared to the previous period, Libya also decreased in the second period during the events by 52% from the previous period, Egypt and Tunisia by 115% and 3%. Second: Arab Foreign Trade Value of exports, and trade balance of the Arab countries under study Table (3) shows the increase in and exports of these countries by a small percentage, but the percentage of increase in exports is less than. Thus, the deficit in the trade balance during the two periods except the countries that have undergone political changes (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen) The balance of trade during the second period was (129%, 981%, 33% and 177%) for Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Yemen, respectively, as a result of the decrease in exports, except for Libya. It was decreased in the second period to 8.2 billion, a decrease of about 31.66% for the first period. The value of agricultural and food exports, and the relative importance of the studied countries for the total Arab countries : The total exports of the countries studied constitute 96.31% of the total exports of the Arab countries as shown in Table (4) The agricultural exports of the studied countries constitute about %, 81.17% ) for the two periods respectively of the total food exports to the Arab countries, The food exports of these countries constitute about 87.35% and 81% respectively for the two periods of total food exports to the Arab countries, Also agricultural exports declined during the two periods for all countries, including countries where political changes have, but the rate of decline of these countries is higher than other stable countries. And the percentage of total exports decreased during the two periods. On the other hand, in terms of food exports, the percentage of agricultural exports increased for all countries during the two periods. The value of agricultural and food and the relative importance of the studied countries for the total Arab world: Its Imports constitute about 95.27% of the of the Arab world. The agricultural of the countries studied constitute 87.18%, 95.74% respectively of the total Arab agricultural. Food accounted for about 83.9% and 90.06% for the two consecutive periods of total food to the Arab countries, as shown in Table (5). It also shows that agricultural generally increased during the two periods for all countries, including the countries where political changes occurred, and the percentage of total of these countries increased, while the other stable countries decreased the proportion of total agricultural during the two periods. For food have raised in value to all countries in general and especially countries that have undergone political changes, reaching 100% of their agricultural. This is a characteristic of developing 1361

4 Table 1: Total Value of National Income, Gross Domestic Product and Agricultural Product of the studied Arab Countries during the period ( ) ( ). Country Average Average Total National Income Total Domestic Product Agricultural Total Domestic Product Total National Income Total Domestic Product Agricultural Total Domestic Product Jordan United Arab Emirates Tunisia Algeria Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Qatar Kuwait Libya Egypt Morocco Yemen Source: Calculated and collected from the UN Foreign Trade Database (UN Comtrade) - Table 2: Population, Per capita of Gross domestic, and per capita of agricultural product of the studied Arab countries during the period ( ) ( ) (Per capita per ) Population (per million inhabitants) Per capita of Gross domestic product per capita of agricultural product Country Average Average Average Average Average Average Jordan United Arab Emirates Tunisia Algeria Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Qatar Kuwait Libya Egypt Morocco Yemen Source: Calculated and collected from the UN Foreign Trade Database (UN Comtrade)

5 Table 3: Value of Exports, Value of Imports and Trade Balance of the under Study Arab Countries during the Period ( ) ( ) Average Average Country Imports Exports Trade Balance Imports Exports Trade Balance Jordan United Arab Emirates Tunisia Algeria Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Qatar Kuwait Libya Egypt Morocco Yemen Source: Calculated and collected from the UN Foreign Trade Database (UN Comtrade)

6 Table 4: The total value of exports, the total value of the agricultural exports and food exports for the studied Arab countries during the period ( ) ( ) (Value in million ) Average Average % Agricultural %Food exports of The total The total value Food exports of the agricultural value of of the exports total exports exports exports agricultural Country The total The total value Food %Agricultural value of the exports exports of the total exports agricultural exports exports exports Jordan United Arab Emirates %Food exports of agricultural exports Tunisia Algeria Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Qatar Kuwait Libya Egypt Morocco Yemen Total Countries Under Study Total Arab Countries % of the total studied countries Of the total Arab country Source: Calculated and collected from the UN Foreign Trade Database (UN Comtrade)

7 Table 5: The total value of, agricultural, food, and the relative importance of the studied Arab countries of the total Arab countries during the period ( ) ( ) (Value in million ) Country The total value of The total value of the agricultural Average Average Food Food % Agricultural of the total % Food of agricultural The total value of The total value of the agricultural % Agricultural of the total % Food of agricultural Jordan United Arab Emirates Tunisia Algeria Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Qatar Kuwait Libya Egypt Morocco Yemen Total Countries Under Study Total Arab Countries % of the total studied countries Of the total Arab country Source: Calculated and collected data from the Arab League - Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, Arab Agricultural Statistics Yearbook

8 countries and countries with wars and revolutions, all agricultural become food because of product are not imported or decreased. Third: Arab-intra trade during the period ( ). Agricultural trade in general and Arab-intra trade, in particular, are of great importance in the economic structure of the Arab countries, through Arab countries exports are exchanged to provide some of food commodities, that are not available locally. Therefore, the relative advantages enjoyed by some Arab countries in crop production, World Trade Efficiency Index (The World Trade Organization) (WTO) shows that Syria, Egypt, and Morocco are the most competitive Arab countries in the export of agricultural products, with Syria ranking 27, Morocco 42 and Egypt 62 of 184 countries exporting the most commodities worldwide (5).The creation of trade occurs when the tariff is reduced or canceled as a result of economic integration. There is a decline in the price of the commodity from the country that was dealt with before the economic integration. This country enjoys the comparative advantage in its production. It has more specialization in the production of this commodity, and this is called the creation of trade, but if it does not enjoy the comparative advantage in its production, and the reduction or elimination of tariffs as a result of economic integration, this leads to increased trade with them, and at the expense of other countries the most Production efficiency that was dealt with prior to integration, and such a change in the direction of trade is called trade conversion, It is undesirable, hence the focus should be on the economic integration leading to the creation of trade and agreement on goods that have a comparative advantage in production among the countries of the agreement or economic integration. The characteristics and stages of economic integration among countries: Table 6 shows the characteristics and stages of economic integration among countries, the Member States of economic integration have important advantages in the economic sphere, the most important of which are: 1-The size of the market and the consequent economic consequences such as increasing the productivity of projects in member countries to meet the new increase in the demand for their products. 2-Achieving economies of scale in production. 3. Increase specialization and division of labor among members. 4-Creating new areas of employment and increasing employment opportunities. 5-Increasing the incentive for investment. 6-Establishment of a single economic bloc with economic strength and importance in the international trade (10). On the other hand, there are some negatives or consequences facing economic integration such as 1-The problem of unified customs tariff 2-The problem of customs protection due to the different conditions of productive projects in member countries and the different degree of growth of their national economies. 3-Problem of the division of customs revenues. 4-The problem of coordination of economic policies (10). Table (7) shows the value of the Arab -intra agricultural trade and the relative importance of it, The decrease in the value of Arab -intra agricultural trade among the studied countries during the two periods, except Qatar, Morocco and Egypt, where the value of intra-trade in the two periods increased by about 19%, 28%, and 75% respectively. The relative importance of intra-agricultural trade of the total Arab agricultural trade for each country increased in general over the two periods without exception but in varying percentages. Possible of integration opportunities of Arab Agro-intra Trade: - The largest amount of Arab agricultural integration can be achieved by converting the bulk of the total Arab and agricultural exports into intra-exports, thus helping to achieve the Arab self- 1366

9 Table 6: The characteristics and stages of economic integration among countries. Reducing Eliminate External unified trade trade barriers trade barriers Characteristics barriers Freedom of production factors movement unison of member states (fixed exchange rates( Standard monetary and fiscal policy determined by a central authority (common currency Preferential trade agreements Free Trade Zone Customs Union Common Market Monetary Union Economic Union Economic integration Source: League of Arab States, Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, Executive Program of the Arab Free Trade Agreement Coordinating monetary, fiscal, administrative, legislative political and security policies Table 7: Value of Arab intra agricultural trade and integration opportunities for the under study countries during the period ( ) ( ) Value in million Country Inter- Arab Inter- Arab Exports Inter-Arab Agricultural Trade Average Average %Arab Inter- Trade of Arab Agricultural Trade Inter- Arab Trade of total Exports Integration Opportunities % Integration Opportunities Inter- Arab Inter- Arab Exports Inter-Arab Agricultural Trade %Arab Inter- Trade of Arab Agricultural Trade Inter- Arab Trade of total Exports Integration Opportunities Jordan United Arab Emirates Tunisia Algeria Arabia Saudi Sudan Syria Qatar Kuwait Libya Egypt Morocco Yemen Source: Calculated and collected data from the Arab League - Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, Arab Agricultural Statistics Yearbook - % Integration Opportunities 1367

10 sufficiency of the most important commodity groups. Table (7) shows the percentage of intra-exports to the total exports of each country, These percentages ranged between the highest percentage achieved in Syria, Jordan, and Egypt at about 8.1%, 7.99%, and 3%, respectively, and a minimum of zero in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya during the first period, The percentage of all countries except Sudan increased by 11.17%. This indicates that opportunities are more available for integration on the basis that the percentage of integration opportunities is considered to be the percentage of the total exports according to the definition of the integration opportunities, which is the difference between the value of total and intra- exports of the state. The percentage of integration opportunities among the under study Arab countries in the exchange of the most important food commodities during the average period , Table (8) shows that the ranking of countries in terms of integration opportunities of wheat crop is (UAE - Kuwait, Morocco - Sudan, Saudi Arabia Yemen - Jordan - Algeria, Qatar, Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, and Libya), respectively, by about( 100, 98, 100, 98, 98, 77, 73, 58, 35 and 100)% respectively. In general for all goods, and the increase in this ratio indicates that the market of this country a promising market and large to accommodate large quantities of this commodity. In terms of maize, the highest percentage was recorded in the UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, and Algeria, where it reached 100, 100, 96.80% respectively, and the lowest in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, and Libya,( 0%, 28%,28%,32%) respectively. Red meat, was highest in the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Qatar with a percentage of (100, 100, and 90%) respectively, with the lowest percentage in (Sudan, Syria, Libya, and Yemen) it where reached (58 %, 29%, 0%.0%) respectively. White meat, the highest percentage was achieved in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Syria, and Kuwait, with a percentage of 91.7, 90.9, 90.7, 82 and 76.7%, respectively, and the minimum was( 55.7, 0%.0%, 0%) for Qatar, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen, respectively. Oil, the highest was in the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya, with a percentage of about 100% each of them, and the lowest is about 58, 25 and 18% for Yemen, Kuwait, and Egypt respectively. Sugar The highest percentage was achieved in Sudan, Libya, Jordan, Tunisia, and Syria, with rates reaching 45, 43.39, 35 and 23% respectively, and the lowest in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) decreased by about , 5.8%, respectively. The highest percentage of onions was achieved in the UAE, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar by 100,100, and 90.7%, and the lowest in Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria by about 10, 4.5 and 0.0% respectively. The highest percentage of orange (UAE, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan) was achieved by (100%, 100%, 92.3%, 49%) and the lowest (about 20, 19, 11, 9.6%) for Kuwait, Algeria, Jordan, Respectively. The highest percentage of potatoes was recorded in Jordan, Kuwait, Tunisia, Yemen, UAE (87.9, 53.46, 51.33, 47.37%) and lowest (7.8, %) for Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Sudan. Respectively The study of Egypt's foreign trade with the economic blocs to evaluate this trade relationship with the blocs especially the Arab countries. Table (9) shows that the average exports of Egypt during the period amounted to about million, a decrease of about 6% during that period. Followed by the European Union with 29.64%, followed by the European Union with 31.3% of Egypt's total exports. The value of Egyptian exports to Arab countries reached about million, an increase of 7% during that period. As for the Egyptian from the Arab countries, the same table shows that the average of Egypt during the period amounted to about million, an increase of about 21% during that period. The Arab countries came in fourth place in terms of import exchange, which amounted to 12.85% Of Egypt's total, and the average value of Egyptian from Arab countries amounted to about 6269 million, an increase of about 17% during that period. The commodities balance of Egypt for the most important imported and exported commodities and the relative importance of these commodities during the period ( ): Table (10) shows Egypt's commodity balance of the most important imported and exported goods and the relative importance of these commodities during the average period from 2008 to The main commodities imported by Egypt are wheat, maize, oil, red meat -white meat), where the production of these commodities amounted to ( , , 272, 834, ) tons respectively. The self-sufficiency rate was about (55.49, 63.7, 32.2, 83.39, 95%) respectively. The deficit in the trade balance amounted to ( , , , , ) million, respectively-the relative importance of the export: Value of these commodities for agricultural 1368

11 Table 8: Percentage of opportunities integration among the under study of Arab countries in the exchange of the most important food commodities during the period Commodity Country Wheat% Maize% Red meat% White meat % Oils% Sugar% Onion% Orange % Potato% Jordan United Arab Emirates Tunisia Algeria Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Qatar Kuwait Libya Egypt Morocco Yemen Source: calculated and collected data from the Arab League - Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, Arab Agricultural Statistics Yearbook

12 Table 9: Egypt's external trade with economic blocs during the period Value per million Average Egyptian Exports (-6) 100 Arab countries European Union (-19) 31 Asia (without Arab countries) change ratio % Exports of total exports (-4) 20 North Amarica Eastern Europe (-37) 2 Africa (without Arab States) (-16) 5 Latin America Other Egyptian Arab countries European Union Asia (without Arab countries) North Amarica (-26) 11 Eastern Europe Africa (without Arab States) (-13) 2 Latin America Other Source: Collected and calculated from Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) data - International Trade Point Sector Egypt. 1370

13 exports amounted to about 1.36, 1.15, 2.15 and 1.15% respectively. The import value of these commodities for agricultural is about 34, 20.8, 6.6, 7.6 and 20%, respectively. The main commodities exported by Egypt are (potatoes, sugar, onions, oranges), where the production of these commodities amounted to about (5036, 1690, and ) tons, respectively. The self-sufficiency ratio was about 100.7%, 66.4 %, 92%, 131% respectively, and the surplus in the trade balance reached about 99.5, 128, and 430 million respectively. The relative importance of the value of exports of these commodities for agricultural exports was about 7.9%, 6.64%, 7%, 19.93% respectively. The value of of these commodities of agricultural was about 0.48%, 0.25%, 0.36%, 0.59 % respectively. Egyptian matrix of the studied commodities, quantity and value with some Arab countries during the period : Table (11) shows the main countries which Egypt the studied commodities from it is clear that (Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Yemen) are the most important countries for wheat. The average imported quantities during the two periods are (113.29, , , 6.713) Thousand tons respectively, with value (36009, 7857, 5467, 2012) respectively. The average price is about 324, 253, 300, 300 respectively, it is clear that Jordan and Syria have a price advantage because their prices are lower than the world price. Egypt can concentrate in importing from it more than Algeria and Yemen. Maize the most important countries are (Libya - Sudan - Sudan) and the average quantities reached about (0.420, ) tons, respectively, with a value of (158, 522, 455) respectively, and the average import price amounted to about 376,355, 283) per ton respectively, Sudan has a price advantage because its price is lower than the world price, Egypt can concentrate on importing from it. Oils the most important countries are (Syria - Jordan) where the average quantities reached about (2.56, 0.199) tons value of (2914, 218), respectively, and the import price was about (1095, 1098) per ton respectively, this prices less than the world price. Red meat the most important country (UAE - Syria) and reached about (0.150, 0.5) tons, respectively, with a value of (456, 170.5) respectively, at an import price of about (3000), 3251 per ton respectively. White meat the most important countries (Saudi Arabia - Jordan) and reached about (0.280, 0.60) tons respectively, with a value of (539, 146), at an import price of about (1925, 2000) per ton respectively. It is clear from the table that the quantities imported by Egypt from the under study Arab countries are low and even small for the large quantities imported from these commodities from the non-arab countries. Therefore, we recommend concentrating the import from the under study Arab countries for proximity and because these countries have a price advantage which less than the world price. As for other commodities such as potatoes and onions, no quantities were imported from these countries. Sugar a small quantity and the main countries which import (Saudi Arabia - Jordan - UAE) and the quantities reached about 1.89, 0.839, tons respectively. The value of (1128, 492, 192), at an average price about (550, 586, 621) per ton respectively. And Egyptian oranges which imported from it very small quantities not exceeding 89 tons of (Saudi Arabia - Libya - Syria - Qatar) the imported quantity (0.2, 0.3, 0.2, 0.19) tons respectively, valued at 17, 20, 12, 12, At a price about (850, 667, 632, 600) per ton respectively. Egypt's export matrix of studied commodities quantity and value with some Arab countries during the period : Table (12) shows the most important countries in which Egypt exports the studied commodities, The table shows that Egypt exports low amounts of wheat, corn, oils, red meat, and white meat, But imported large quantities, where the highest imported quantity of wheat, from Saudi Arabia and the average quantity during the two periods about 36.5 tons, with value 19.9, the price of tons about 551, and Jordan with a quantity of 22 tons, value of 12, and the price of tons about 549. And maize, the highest average exported quantity to Libya and Kuwait was about (66.5, 89) tons, value of (16-35), and the price (326,381) per ton, respectively, Oils, the highest export volume was about 130 tons to Jordan with a value of 189.5, with an export price of about 1456, Kuwait and Libya about 23.5, with a value 35.3, 33.9, and export price about 1561,1456 respectively, Red meat, the highest average quantity exported about( ) tons to Kuwait and Qatar with a value of (19.7, 14), and the export price about (1880, 2377) per ton, respectively, White meat, the highest average exported volume ( ) tons for Kuwait and Qatar with a value of (46.5, 36.5) at (1967, 2000) per ton. For the potato, 1371

14 Table 10: Egypt's commodities balance of the most important imported and exported goods and the relative importance of these commodities during the average period ( ) Quantity per tons - value per ) Item Imports of goods Exports of Exports Imports Trade Balance Sufficiency from agricultural Production Consumption agricultural exports rate Imported commodities Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Wheat Corn Oils Red meat White meat The most important exported commodities potato Sugar Onions Orange Source: Collected and calculated data from the Arab League - Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, Arab Agricultural Statistics Yearbook - Table 11: Egypt's matrix of the studied goods quantity and value with some Arab countries during the period from Quantity per tons - value per Countr y Exporting country Item Period Worl d price Jordan United Arab Emirates Tunisia Algeria Saudi Arabia Sudan Quanti ty Values Price per Quant ity Values Price per thousan d Quantit y The most important imported commodities Egypt Wheat Corn Oils Red meat White meat Value s The most important exported commodities Egypt Potato Sugar Onions Orang e Source: Collected and calculated data from the Arab League - Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, Arab Agricultural Statistics Yearbook - Price per thousan d Quantit y Value s Price per thousan d Quantit y Value s Price per thousan d Quantit y Value s Price per thousan d 1372

15 Continued Table 11: Egypt's matrix of the studied goods quantity and value with some Arab countries during the period from Country Exporting country Item Period World price Syria Qatar Kuwait Libya Morocco Yemen Quantity Values Price per Quantity Values Price per Quantity Values Price per Quantity Values Price per thousan d The most important imported commodities Quantity Values Price per Quantity Values Wheat Corn Price per thousan d Egypt Oils Red meat White meat The most important exported commodities potato Sugar Egypt Onions Orange Source: Collected and calculated data from the Arab League - Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, Arab Agricultural Statistics Yearbook

16 Table 12: Egypt's exports matrix of the studied goods quantity and value with some Arab countries during the period from (Quantity per tons - value per ) Country Item Exporting country Jordan United Arab Emirates Tunisia Algeria Saudi Arabia Sudan Period World price Quantity Values Price per Quantity Values Price per Quantity Values Price per The most important imported commodities Quantity Values Price per Quantity Values Price per Quantity Values Price per Egypt Egypt Wheat Corn Oils Red meat White meat potato Sugar Onions Orange The most important exported commodities Source: Collected and calculated data from the Arab League - Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, Arab Agricultural Statistics Yearbook

17 Continued Table 12: Egypt's exports matrix of the studied goods quantity and value with some Arab countries during the period from Country Item Wheat Exporting country Syria Qatar Kuwait Libya Morocco Yemen Price Price per Price Price Price Period World perthou thous per per per Quantity Values Quantity Values Quantity Values Quantity Values Quantity Values price sand and thousan thousan thousan Quantity dollar d d d s The most important imported commodities Values Price per Egypt Egypt Corn Oils Red meat White meat potato Sugar Onions The most important exported commodities Orange Source: Collected and calculated data from the Arab League - Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, Arab Agricultural Statistics Yearbook

18 Tunisia had the highest exported volume of 5394 tons, valued at 1892, and the price of tons about 340, and the lowest quantity in Algeria the amount of 28 tons, valued at 10 at 357 per ton. The highest amount of sugar exported to Libya was about tons, valued at 14699, at a price of 525, The lowest amount was to Qatar about 1.6 tons, valued at 1 at 630 per ton. Onion, the highest export amount to Saudi Arabia, and amounted to about tons, with a value 65179, and the price 651 per tons. The amount of Yemen about tons, with a value 16, and the price 660 per ton. The highest export volume of orange was Saudi Arabia tons, with a value and the price of 764 per ton. The amount of the state of Tunisia about 147 tons, volume about at the price of 780 per ton. The table shows that Egypt exports (potatoes, sugar, onions, oranges) to almost all the Arab studied countries at a price lower than the world price, So we will Comment only on the highest importing country and the lowest country, the export price is less than the world price indicates Egypt's exports has the advantage of the price, and the comparative advantage in the production of these crop. Fifth: Foreign trade efficiency Indicators during the period : The foreign trade of a commodity (exports and ) reflects the true picture of the internal and external demand for this commodity, The increase of the country's exports of the commodity means that there is an external demand for this commodity, and vice versa. The foreign trade efficiency reflects the efficiency of the mechanisms or tools used in managing the available resources in the country, applying the principle of comparative advantage, and competitiveness in the use of resources (2). Foreign trade efficiency indicators - : 1- The average inclination of export. 2- The average inclination of import 3- The degree of economic openness. 4- Coverage rate 5- Dependency rate. 6- Degree of economic participation. The average inclination of export. Is the ratio of the exports value to the value of the Gross domestic product, and can be calculated by dividing the value of total exports / GDP value. Table (13) shows that the most Arab studied countries in terms of the export coefficient are the UAE, Libya, Kuwait, (0.792, 0.659, 0.637) respectively, during the first period ( ). In the second period ( ), UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar were about 0.982, and respectively. For countries with political changes (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria), the export trend is declining. The average inclination of import. Is the ratio of value of / value of GDP Table (13) shows that the most Arab studied countries in terms of import factors are Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Tunisia, where the index reached (0.779, 0.715, 0.534) respectively in the first period of the study. The change in the ranking of the UAE preceded Jordan (UAE - Jordan - Tunisia) and the indicator reached about (0.766, 0.720, 0.567) respectively. For the countries that have changed, the indicator rose except Egypt, which dropped from to The degree of economic openness: It expresses the degree of the country's dealing with the outside world. This measure shows the ratio of the value of and exports to the value of GDP, = the value of exports + the value of / GDP. Table (13) shows that (United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Tunisia, Libya, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia) are the most open countries in the first period by(1.51, 1.29, 1.04, 1, and 0.910), respectively. In the second period the same as the previous arrangement with the addition of Qatar instead of Kuwait, and the value - The average inclination of export, The average inclination of import, The degree of economic openness for the agricultural sector of the Arab under study countries: Table (14) shows that Tunisia, Syria, and Morocco are the countries with the highest tendency to export (0.506, and 0.501) respectively in the first period. The high tendency of in Qatar, Jordan, UAE, Libya) and reached (1.18, 0.42, 0.27, 0.11) 1376