RAFAH: Even before Israeli ground forces swept into northern Gaza, a tense calm prevailed over Egypt’s half of the town of Rafah. While at the Rafah gate, mere kilometers away, the atmosphere was upbeat as an international coalition worked to get aid into the strip, the town’s main thoroughfares were clogged with hundreds of Egyptian …

CAIRO: Inside the Customs Council, intense negotiations are ongoing with the aim of reducing tariffs on imported goods in an effort to spur the Egyptian industry. Though Al-Masry Al-Youm reported last week that changes in the customs laws were imminent, officials insist that the majority of changes may still be several weeks away. The newspaper …

Market conditions for IPOs are a fleeting thing. And it would seem, for the moment at least, that those days have passed. 2008 saw the crest of an IPO wave that has seen a handful of Egypt’s most sought-after firms go public, only to flounder late in the year as economic conditions deteriorated and the …

With the boom over the past few years in Egypt’s economy, foreign direct investment (FDI) has become a fixation for many businessmen and economists alike who see it as a critical component of economic growth. However, the slowdown that has come to afflict the global economy during the second half of 2008 has complicated the …

CAIRO: Private equity firm Actis announced this week the creation of a private equity fund worth $2.9 billion. The fund, for which Actis executives have been working to raise money since 2004, exceeded its target of $2.5 billion. It was named Actis Emerging Markets 3 (AEM3) and will be dedicated to investing in emerging markets …

CAIRO: The International Data Corporation (IDC) brought its IT in Government Roadshow to Cairo on Monday. The conference brought together some of the industry’s leading experts in an effort to discuss the state of the IT sector in Egypt, the government’s role in the industry, and how IT businesses will weather the current global economic …

CAIRO: Amidst the sound and fury of today’s global economic turmoil, experts in Egypt have long claimed that the country would handle the crisis better than most. But this week, the Ministry of Economic Development issued a report with numbers that suggest the economic crisis may finally have reached Egypt’s shores. The report is not …

CAIRO: When it was announced this fall that venerable investment bank Lehman Brothers was going under, the parlor games began. Many wondered who would be next. Citi was an oft-discussed name but most experts contended that Citi was too much a behemoth to ever sink. Then last week rolled around, and doubts were renewed. Citi’s …

CAIRO: Whoever thought that accountants could be the life of the party? Well, on Tuesday afternoon at the Cairo Capital Club in Garden City, they became just that. Mazars Mostafa Shawki, one of Egypt’s premier auditing and accounting firms, hosted a reporters’ lunch to discuss pressing issues of the day. Mazars has a little extra …

CAIRO: The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) said last week it will reject proposals for any new projects in the aluminum, ammonia, or urea industries. These industries consume a considerable amount of Egypt’s energy supply and have been partially to blame for the rise in energy prices. The IDA’s decision is a renewal of a broad …

CAIRO: The eighth annual JEM exhibition for jewelry kicked off Wednesday night at the InterContinental CityStars Hotel, heralding the start of a critical week for jewelers who hope to use the country’s premier jewelry event to keep their heads above water in this unfriendly economic environment. And the four-day event kicked off in style with …

CAIRO: With a slowdown in the economic financial markets, a drop in foreign investment coming into Egypt, and a general decline in consumer confidence, the jewelry industry, like so many others, is experiencing a time of change. All this comes as the industry prepares for its annual event, JEM 2008. The event, which is taking …

CAIRO: “For the first time since the Second World War, the weighted average growth rate of GDP for developed countries is negative, said Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali at a conference Wednesday. Mentioning a lag effect with regard to the impact of the global economic crisis, he noted that the developing world, too, was vulnerable. “It …

CAIRO: Mohamed Taymour has been in the game for a long time. It shows in his even-keeled outlook on the economy and his willingness to endure the highs and lows of banking that has delivered him to the top rung of the financial ladder. Today, he is the chairman of Pharos Holding for Financial Investments, …

CAIRO: Driven by a decline in food prices, inflation in Egypt fell for the second consecutive month to 20.2 percent in the year to October. In the midst of a year that has seen price hikes across the board, urban headline inflation, announced state statistics agency CAPMAS, came in at 20.2 percent in October, down …

CAIRO: Around the world, people watched the US elections with interest, a certain amount of admiration, and a healthy dose of skepticism. There’s no doubt that an Obama victory was better received worldwide than a McCain win would have been. But with the US mired in two wars and with the world in an economic …

CAIRO: Despite a trend that has seen global food prices fluctuating significantly in the months following the global financial meltdown, Egypt’s food prices are expected to experience softer price shifts than the global norm, experts predict. Egyptian newspapers have begun to speculate that the economic crisis could lead to decreased food prices in the Egyptian …

CAIRO: Egyptian and American trade leaders convened Monday to discuss ways of maximizing trade potential between Egypt and the United States. The event, put on by the American Chamber of Commerce, featured speakers from the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry. US Ambassador Margaret Scobey …

CAIRO: With the challenges posed by the global economic slowdown, banks around the world have been forced to react and adapt in order to make sure they remain solvent in anticipation of a difficult few years. This was first on the mind of Gamal Moharam, chairman and CEO of Piraeus Bank Egypt. With a heavy …

CAIRO: Gold prices continued their precipitous slide over the past week, as the industry quickly closes in its third straight week of price decline. Industry experts worry that gold, typically a stable investment opportunity during times of economic turmoil, could continue its decline in value and further shake investor confidence. Prices are currently wallowing at …

CAIRO: The capstone of the Euromoney Conference came yesterday afternoon as Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif took the stage to discuss the current state of the Egyptian economy. Singing in thematic harmony with the many Cabinet ministers that had spoken before him, Nazif largely touted the strength of the economy, seamlessly flipping concerned questions from the …

CAIRO: As value has bled from the stock market, capital markets experts have begun to look at how they might pick up the pieces in order re-grasp the economic landscape and discover where to find value. Two speakers at one of the afternoon’s sessions sought to address the issues surrounding the new debt and equity …

CAIRO: With two days of optimistic lectures that seemed defiant in the face of the collapse of the international financial markets, a spirited discussion by six of Egypt’s sharpest banking minds proved no different. Even as moderator Richard Banks pressed the panel on the oddly upbeat tenor of the conference, the bankers held firm, asserting …

CAIRO: On the morning of Monday Sept. 15, the board of directors of venerable investment bank Lehman Brothers, which had been in frantic meetings all weekend, decided to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. And with that, the wheels fell off the proverbial bus. The Dow Jones Index continued to rally for some time, investors unwilling to …

CAIRO: Perhaps in an effort to recognize that the consumer is, in many ways, the engine of the economy, EFG-Hermes hosted a workshop entitled “Growth, Inflation and the Egyptian Consumer. Hosting a number of executives each, in some way, tied to the consumer market, EFG economist Simon Kitchen led the discussion. The tenor of the …

CAIRO: Over the last several years, a cadre of Cabinet ministers, a barrage of new policy and the strength of free market capitalism have conspired to dramatically increase international investment in Egypt, which topped $13 billion in fiscal year 2007/2008. But for a country that has begun to rely so heavily on foreign investment for …

CAIRO: Fresh off the plane from Washington, where he had gone to help address the global economic crisis, Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali sat down with Daily News Egypt on Sunday for a back-and-forth about his tenure and the economic challenges facing Egypt. A commanding presence behind an even more commanding desk, Ghali spoke …

CAIRO: Change we can believe in? It’s the slogan that might just make Barack Obama America’s 44th president, but the American Chamber of Commerce is hoping that it will inspire transformation in the Egyptian marketing industry. The marketing committee of the American Chamber of Commerce held a conference for marketing executives Tuesday titled “The Search …

CAIRO: In his first trip to Egypt this week, Mauro Guillen was fortunate to find a few minutes to visit the Pyramids. As part of his whirlwind five-day trip to the country, Guillen, who heads The Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, found time to sit down for a freewheeling interview with Daily News …