Mission after mission
Egyptian think tanks talk initiatives during US trips. by Tarek Atia
(cairolive.com, October 30, 2001)
Several delegations from Egyptian think tanks have
been visiting the US in the past few weeks in an
attempt to lobby Washington on issues that concern
Egypt. A group from Egypt's Economic Forum (EEF), led
by businessman Shafik Gabr, just returned from
Washington, while another, from Egypt's Council on
Foreign Relations, is heading there this week, led by
former ambassador Mohamed Shaker.
The EEF's Gabr said recently that because Washington
has a short attention span, these types of visits need
to be even more frequent, and need to be directed at
different places in the States.
In Gabr's opinion, there are six centers of decision
making in the US: the White House, the Administration,
Congress, think tanks, the media, and business
associations. All of these need to be addressed in a
comprehensive manner if Egypt's viewpoint on important
issues is to be taken seriously.
This year's EEF mission had been planned since July,
but the events of September 11 made the Forum's
members question whether or not to go. Would anybody
talk to us, or even want to, Gabr and others in the
forum wondered. They delayed the trip a few weeks, but
eventually made it, and over five days in Washington
ended up conducting a total of 62 meetings.
One of those was with US Vice President Dick Cheney,
who described the trip as "extremely appreciated and
timely," according to Gabr. Much of the group's
efforts focused on promoting initiatives in three
main areas -- education, Free Trade Zones, and IT.
