Fruits' trading is considered one of the most important agricultural trades
in Syria, due to its big incomings and its role in supporting the national
economy. GAFTA members are representing the biggest partner for Syria in
this trade.
The aim of
this research was to assess the impact of GAFA on the exports
and imports of orange and apple which are considered the most important
Syrian fruits, by using dummy variables through the time series of (1994 -
2010). The research showed that GAFTA had no significant impact on any of
the studied commodities through the transitional phase (1998-2004), while it
had a positive significant effect on both of the exports and imports of these
commodities after the full implementation stage (2005-2010). Significant
differences were found between the three stages (before- during- after) GAFTA
implementation. after implementation stage showed significant differences
comparing to the other stages, in which the exports and imports of both orange
and apple had increased in this stage comparing to the previous ones by
quantity and value.