Reviving Egypt's letter of credit (L/C) industry is one of Washington's several objectives in terms of its support for the North African country as it works to revitalise its economy in the post-Mubarak era.

A measure to support Egyptian L/Cs was therefore one of several introduced by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her mid-March visit to Cairo.

L/C insurance

It was revealed during the visit that the US Export-Import Bank has approved a US$80 million insurance package to back L/Cs issued by Egyptian financial institutions.

In addition, Clinton pledged US$90 million in emergency economic assistance for Egypt.

SME support

The US is particularly eager for Egypt to mobilise schemes that will bolster Egypt's small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in which 99 per cent of Egyptians work.

Much of the US$90 million of emergency assistance will support job creation schemes in SMEs.

Duty free exports

Clinton's officials also talked with their Egyptian counterparts on plans to expand the Qualified Investment Zone (QIZ) scheme.

Currently there are seven QIZs in Egypt from where companies can export to the US on a duty-free basis.

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