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Jews, Egyptians
Discuss Business
Jerusalem (JTA) — In move
hailed as unprecedented, a
group of major American
Jewish philanthropists met
last week with top Egyptian
business leaders to explore
the idea of cooperative busi-
ness ventures.
The Americans were
members of the United Jew-
ish Appeal's prestigious
Prime Minister's Mission, a
delegation of contributors
who have given a minimum
$100,000 each to the UJA
campaign. Many of them
have investments and busi-
nesses in Israel.
They met with their Egyp-
tian counterparts at the
Taba Hilton, Israeli-owned
until it was surrendered to
Egypt as part of the Camp
David peace accord.
The visit to Taba, organiz-
ed around the mission's
theme of peace, began with a
brief introduction by Joel
Tauber, UJA's national
chairman from Detroit.
"We are very excited about
the (Arab-Israeli) peace pro-
cess," he said. "But we all
know peace is not a piece of
paper. We all know that
peace (means) Egypt and
Israel doing business
together."
Mr. Tauber said the
meeting was intended to
spark the development of
business contacts that will
create a fertile climate for a
meaningful peace.
The two groups were
seated together at sparsely
laden round tables. Largely
ignoring the fruit and bottl-
ed water, they exchanged
niceties, traded business
cards and then plunged
eagerly into conversation.
The UJA delegates had
come from a briefing in Eilat
by Egyptian ambassador to
Israel, Mohammed
Basiouny, who insisted that
the peace with Egypt is no
longer a cold one. He added
that Arab-Israeli economic
cooperation could create a
paradise " in the region.
Still, even as they talked
taxes and labor costs, the
business leaders on both
sides were aware of the sym-
bolism of the meeting, which
they described as un-
precedented. Some even
used the word "historic."
"This is my first time in
Egypt," said Nancy Siwak,
owner of a hat manufactur-
ing concern in St. Louis.
"It's very exciting."
Opposite her sat Ahmed
"
Arafa, chairman of the
Golden Tex Group Co., one of
Egypt's largest manufac-
turers of textiles and sup-
plier to stores he owns in
Cairo. He handed Siwak his
card.
"We have met with many
Americans," said Mr. Arafa,
"but this is the first time we
have met with an American
Jewish delegation.
"Our purpose is to make
business. It doesn't matter
where (people) come from,"
he added.
"We're all business people
interested in new ideas,"
said Loula Zaklama, presi-
dent of the Rada Research
and Public Relations Co. in
Cairo. "For us it's very im-
portant to establish
channels of communication
with businesses in other
countries.
"But with a Jewish
group," Ms. Zaklama con-
tinued, "it's different and
more exciting. The fact that
they've gone to the effort to
meet with their (Egyptian)
The meeting was
intended to spark
the development
of contacts that
will create a
meaningful peace.
counterparts is already a big
step."
"We believe that the only
glue that will make this
peace is commerce and that
should be encouraged," said
James Pringle, president of
the American Chamber of
Commerce in Egypt and re-
gional vice president of the
Morrison Knudsen Corp.
One member of the UJA
mission suggested the UJA
could help finance Israeli in-
vestments in Egypt but
stressed the key is building a
stable region.
Mr. Pringle and the Egyp-
tian business people stepped
up to the microphone one by
one to answer questions and
to describe Egypt's favorable
business climate. They
stressed the time is now for
the region to build strong
economic ties in order to
compete with the European
Community, Asia and North
America.
Mr. Arafa described
himself to the gathering as a
former top officer in Egypt's