Egypt and Singapore will sign a free trade pact that will form "a bridge between Asia and the Middle East", Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said Saturday in Cairo.
Goh, speaking after discussions with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, said both sides had agreed to forge a free trade agreement.
"That would serve as a bridge between Asia and the Middle East, because between Egypt and Singapore, we believe others would be able to sign on to similar free trade agreements between the two regions," Goh said to reporters after the meeting.
"The president (Mubarak) was supportive of that," he said, adding that further discussions about the agreement would be held in the coming months.
According to the state Middle East News Agency, the Egyptian authorities are hoping to take advantage of the visit of the Singaporean leader and his entourage of business leaders to promote industrial export zones in the northern Gulf of Suez and to lure investment.
Goh arrived Thursday in Cairo on the first stop of a 10-day Middle East tour that will also take him to Jordan and Bahrain, which his office said aims to expand trade ties in the Middle East.
In Jordan, he will have talks with King Abdullah II and discuss a planned free trade agreement between their two countries. They plan to finish negotiations ahead of the original target date of July.
Goh will be in Bahrain from February 17 to 20, where he will meet with King Hamad.
Bahrain, which like Singapore has to contend with a fresh water shortage, has expressed interest in the Southeast Asian nation's advanced water recycling and treatment technology.
Singaporean Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar and economic officials were accompanying Goh, his office said.