An analytical study of agricultural inter-Arab trade (Case study: some of the Egyptian agricultural exports)

Abstract

The research aims to identify the current situation of the agricultural bilateral trade in the Arab world, and the factors influencing its development possibilities.This is done by studying the most important inter-Arab agricultural trade indicators and the competitiveness of the most important Egyptian agricultural exports in the most important Arab markets, as an indicator of the potential of inter-Arab trade and agricultural development. The research problem can be posed in terms of the following question, "How do we develop inter-Arab agricultural trade and increase the competitiveness of the most important Egyptian agricultural exports in the Arab markets?". To achieve the goals of the research, the researchers used the descriptive and applied analytical methodology for the variables studied, and estimated some price elasticity for exports such as own-price elasticity, price Cross elasticity, spending elasticity, as well as estimating the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) for the commodities under study. The research indicates that the Arab agricultural production is still unable to achieve the fundamental objectives, which are focused on meeting the basic food needs in the Arab countries. Through the Almost Ideal Demand Systems for rice in the Libyan and Lebanese markets, potatoes and onions in the Saudi market, the research model showed the possibility of increasing the competitiveness of these crops in the Arab markets. The research recommends the adoption of price policies, that take into account the competitive prices set by the countries competing in those markets, as well as the income ratios earmarked for spending on these commodities in the importing Arab countries, in a way that increases the efficiency of inter-Arab agricultural trade, at the expense of the imports of those goods from non-Arab countries.