28/09/2006 Common Fund for Commodities in Amsterdam: Within the frame of the Common Fund for Commodities, the Assistant Foreign Minister for International Economic Affairs assumes the position of Egypt's Governor, while the Director of International Economic Affairs assumes the position of the Executive Director of the sector to which Egypt belongs. The most significant developments in the Egyptian relations with the Fund include the visit of the Fund’s Director to Cairo in February 2006, Egypt's participation in the 41st meeting of the Fund's Executive Council in 10-12 April 2006. The meeting discussed the Egyptian proposal for studying the possibility of founding trilateral cooperation between Egypt, the Fund, and African countries. These discussions resulted in agreeing on discussing irrigation along with agriculture among basic commodities section, as well as benefiting from Egyptian expertise in these fields, and proposing initiating projects in South Sudan according to the Egyptian role in this regards. The Fund also added the irrigation issue in the SADC member states, because of their increasing needs, which makes it important for Egypt to mirror the power of South Africa in the southern area, and to join the Fund. Noteworthy is that the Fund has surplus financial resources, which exceed the needs of the current projects, which would enhance this demarche, if the Executive Council selected the best projects.        - UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA): The International Economic Affairs at the Foreign Ministry is keen on participating in all of the commission’s activities and events. One of the significant events in which Egypt has participated is the Experts Meeting, which was organized by the committee in April 2006, to follow up the results of the Sixth WTO Conference. This meeting tackled the latest developments of the negotiations regarding the fields of agriculture, industrial goods, trade in services, trade facilitation, special and differential treatment for developing countries, and implementation issues. Moreover, the meeting discussed the Arab region priorities concerning the trade policy, and resulted in some recommendations that would be generalised by the ESCWA directly after being finished. The International Economic Affairs at the Foreign Ministry along with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Customs Authority participated in a workshop, which was organized by the ESCWA in June 2006, on trade facilitation. This workshop highlighted the importance of Arab coordination, in order to achieve the utmost benefit during the ongoing multilateral negotiations. - UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD): The International Economic Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, along with a representative from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, have recently participated in the training course on contemporary international economic issues, which was organized by UNCTAD in Beirut during the period from 25 June to 15 July 2006. Egypt is expected to host the upcoming course in February 2007. - The Free Trade Agreement with the United States: In coordination with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the International Economic Affairs at the Foreign Ministry follows up the developments of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.