CAIRO: Egypt’s Cabinet will propose to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) an additional economic stimulus package worth LE 10 billion, Minister of Economic Development Osman Mohamed Osman told the local media. The proposed package will be put forward at the party’s annual conference scheduled for Oct. 30. Of the sum, LE 9 billion will …

CAIRO: What do air technologies, industrial tools, storage equipment and spare parts have in common? The latest technologies from each were recently displayed at a Cairo exhibition with industry insiders eager to expand their offerings on the market. Airtech, “The 8th International Exhibition for Compressed Air Technology & Accessories and Mactech, “The 9th International Exhibition …

CAIRO: Revenues from the Suez Canal remain low, recording a year-on-year decrease of 24 percent for the first nine months of 2009, Al-Gomhuria newspaper reported. A year ago the canal drew $4.10 billion as compared to $3.13 billion in the nine months to September 2009. Throughout 2009, analysts and the media have bemoaned the slowdown …

CAIRO: Middle and upper class Egyptians plan to defy the global slowdown in real estate sales: 21 percent say they will buy or rent a new property in the coming year, according to a recent survey by market research firm Synovate. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed acknowledged that although the effects of the real estate …

CAIRO: The Minister of Transport Mohamed Mansour addressed members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt at AmCham’s first meeting of the fall, entitled “Transport in Egypt: Have We Achieved? Mansour addressed the assembled representatives from the private sector as old friends, opening with a relieved-sounding “It’s good to be home. As a former …

CAIRO: The amount of resources pumped into the compilation and presentation of a recent report on the untapped potential of international and domestic shipping in Egypt seems a clear indicator of the profits expected from this sector. Commissioned by APL, part of the Singapore-based shipping company Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), and compiled by Frost & …

CAIRO: Egypt’s government revenues rose .02 percent to LE 22.7 billion, while expenditures increased 26.1 percent to LE 47.4 billion from August to September 2009, Al-Ahram reported. The budget deficit swelled accordingly, at LE 24.4 billion now comprising 2.1 percent of Egypt’s GDP, as opposed to LE 14.8 billion during the same period last year. …

CAIRO: By offering minority stakes in government industries, Egypt is set to resume the sukuk privatization program temporarily suspended last year, reported Al-Shorouk. With the stabilization of the Egyptian economy, the privatization program will reportedly launch in the chemical industries sector, with sales of minority shares of 10 to 20 percent of companies belonging to …

CAIRO: Egypt’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA) approved the construction of a nitrogen fertilizer production line, which will see investments of LE 400 million. The new production line will be set up in the Egyptian Chemical Industries’ (KIMA) Aswan facility. In a statement, the Ministry of Trade said the facility is expected to create 1,500 new …

CAIRO: Egypt will decrease subsidies on natural gas and electricity to non-energy intensive industries, the local press reported, raising prices 26 percent by the beginning of 2010, announced Amr Assal, chairman of the Industrial Development Authority. The move represents the continuation of a plan initiated by the Ministry of Investment in September 2007 to adjust …

CAIRO: While a lot of the talk at Euromoney centered on new models for doing business and the changing economic landscape, one banking official went the opposite direction. “We don’t need a new model, Aftab Ahmed, country officer and managing director for Citi Egypt, told Daily News Egypt on the sidelines of the conference. “Everything …

CAIRO: At his luncthime address to the attendees of the Euromoney conference Tuesday, Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League, appeared flush with his experiences at the G20 meeting in Pittsburg. He spoke with admiration of the decision to include China and India in the G20, economies he defined as “emerged rather than “emerging, …

CAIRO: Right after he wrapped up an interview with Egypt’s trade minister, Daily News Egypt caught up with Richard Ensor, managing director of Euromoney Institutional Investor, to get his views on what was said by officials at the economic conference. Daily News Egypt: Can an internationally standardized rubric such as GDP accurately measure a country’s …

CAIRO: In questioning a panel of established financial services providers like Banque Misr, ministry of investment representatives, and innovators in the sector, Euromoney Middle East Director Richard Banks tried to create coherent framework for the future direction of financial services. Addressing general retail banking, microfinance as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the discussion …

CAIRO: A panel addressing the development of Egypt’s infrastructure, moderated by Euromoney Institutional Investor Managing Director Richard Ensor, conveyed an optimism somewhat belied by the cars crowding the corniche outside the window. Hisham Fouad, senior advisor to the chairman of the General Authority for Roads, Bridges, and Land Transport (GARBLT), announced LE 10 -15 billion …

CAIRO: The mood among the development moguls and mortgage experts assembled for “Real Estate in Egypt session Tuesday carried little of the cheeriness expressed by Euromoney conference panelists in the financial and investment sectors. While hopes bobbed ever higher with each repetition of Egypt’s 4.7 percent increase in GDP, as well as great expectations for …

CAIRO: The Egyptian Financial Services Authority (EFSA), the country’s newest regulatory body, has not yet had the chance to define itself. And it seems that the exact character of the EFSA will remain difficult to pin down. Chairman Ziad Bahaa Eldin was interviewed Tuesday by Richard Banks, Middle East director for Euromoney, during a panel …

CAIRO: Egypt’s economy can grow as much as 5.5 percent during fiscal year 2009/10, Investment Minsiter Mahmoud Mohieldin said Tuesday. During his keynote address at the Euromoney Egypt Conference 2009, Mohieldin also said that Egypt is aiming to bring inflation down to between 6 to 8 percent. The Euromoney Egypt Conference opened with an announcement …

CAIRO: Egypt has decided to cut domestic rice cultivation by one third, Mostafa El-Naggari, a representative of Egypt’s Agricultural Export Council, told Reuters. The council cited water conservation as the motivating factor in reducing the land area planted with rice. The announcement comes on the heels of last week’s decision to extend Egypt’s ban on …

Although the global credit crunch provides an unlikely context for attracting new customers, credit card use in Egypt continues to rise. The convenience of credit cards, the ability to buy high priced items on credit, as well as the products available on the increasingly web-based world market appeal to consumers in Egypt and elsewhere that …