Official sources here said today that the boycott threatened by the Arab countries in retaliation for West Germany’s offer of diplomatic recognition to Israel was not very important statistically.
The Economics Ministry published a report showing that West Germany’s total exports to 16 countries in the Arab world, including Aden, totaled 140, 000, 000 pounds sterling ($392, 000, 000) last year, less than two and a half percent of all West German exports.
However, exporters, mainly engineering firms, will lose new orders of considerable value, it was reported. West Germany had earmarked aid funds totaling 350, 000, 000 marks ($87, 500, 000) for construction of the Euphrates dam. This was the largest item in a 207, 000, 000 mark fund ($51, 750, 000) set aside for aid to the Arabs until the end of 1964.
It was generally assumed here that Egypt’s projected anti-German boycott would collapse in part at least because Egypt would still have to bay from German industrialists replacements for parts and accessories to German machinery obtained in West Germany in the past. Most of the German machine parts cannot be bought anywhere else.
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