مؤشرات أداء التجارة الخارجية الزراعية العربية

The foreign trade has important implications on economic development. The most important implication in this regard is the development of exports towards reduction of the trade deficit and improving the terms of trade. In addition, when the national economy holds considerable agricultural resources, the foreign trade policies become key issues in the development program towards achieving considerable self-sufficiency rates for major food groups. In this context the study aimed at conducting an analytical study of the agricultural foreign trade performance over the past two decades through some major relevant indicators. The study relied on published data from relevant regional and international organizations and relevant studies. Low share of the Arab states' agricultural exports in the global market indicated that the vulnerability of the Arabic market with the global market was much higher than the degree of influence. The total value of commodity exports of 21 Arab countries was less than 5% of the total volume of world merchandise exports. Such value contained oil exports during the period 2004-2011. The Arabic States with large agricultural resources that had the highest share in the world merchandise exports, were also exporting oil. Such countries included Sudan, with a share of 0.52% and Egypt with a share of 0.2%. Therefore, the individual Arabic countries rush to join individually the World Trade Organization had made their economies prey to the rigid terms of trade liberalization. If they were joined the °organization as a common market, they would be able to get some privileges or ease the burden of the conditions that many of them have shown inability to meet them. The market share of agricultural commodity exports of Arab states did not exceed 1% of the agricultural commodity exports in the global market. While total merchandise exports had achieved on average a trade surplus of 45% (2004-2008), there was deterioration in such surplus to 13% in 2011, the average Arab agricultural exports covered only 24% over the period 2004-2008 and dropped to 20% in 2011. This low rate of coverage was consistent with the poor performance of the Arab agricultural trade in other measured indicators and as a result of the slow growth of II e Arabic agricultural exports versus accelerated world agricultural market growth. Fish and vegetable group, unlike the rest of the commodity groups, had achieved surplus during period (2004-2011), despite fluctuating in such surplus rate. There were two profound food commodities groups that achieved a surplus in exports value above imports. These were e fruits and tubers (potatoes). Although Arab self-sufficiency ratio above 100% in fruits and legumes, their exports value covered only 85%of their imports, indicating a failure of terms of trade, i.e. the average unit value of exports, were higher than the average unit value of imports,. The export policies succeeded partially in some food commodities, the agricultural policies of the Arab States have generally failed to develop the foreign trade performance. The empirical evidence was that the terms of trade indices gave a positive result in five years in only one country (Palestine), followed by Algeria (in three years), the remainder of the Arab countries have achieved this result just either in two separate years or only in one yea