The day before the highly-acclaimed Iraqi Film “Son of Babylon” was set to have its eagerly awaited Jordanian premiere — opening the Franco-Arab Film Festival in Amman — the festival’s organizers told the filmmakers that they would not allow the director’s letter to be read to the audience. The festival pulled the film moments before …

ABU DHABI: Jordan’s central bank does not plan to change the composition of its $11 billion foreign exchange reserves and it needs to be vigilant due to advancing inflation, Governor Umayya Toukan said on Sunday. Jordanian officials have been insisting for the last two years they had no plans to change the composition of the …

BEIRUT: Turkey, Lebanon , Jordan and Syria have agreed to set-up a regional agreement that would allow for free trade and travel between the four countries. The news, first reported by the Lebanese business website iloubnan.info, would mean the removal of visas for travel between the four countries, as well as the establishment of a …

CAIRO: Austrian archaeologists have located an underground Egyptian city which they believe to be Avaris, the capital used by the Hyksos who ruled 3,600 years ago, the culture ministry said on Sunday. The Austrian mission carried out a geophysical survey of the area allowing them to identify parts of Avaris in the Nile Delta near …

CAIRO: Egypt’s economic growth is seen edging up over the next two years as the most populous Arab country continues to outperform many other regional states, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday. A survey of 11 economists predicted gross domestic product (GDP) in the North African country would grow 5.2 percent in the fiscal year …

CAIRO: As of July 1, 2010, a ban on the selling of live poultry, which was in place since May 2009 across only five governorates, will be implemented nationwide. Head of the Poultry division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce Abdel-Aziz El-Sayed said that instating a ban on selling live poultry will only be effective …

CAIRO: Real estate developers sounded out about the impact of regulatory changes, the availability of bank capital and why institutional investment capital is reluctant to enter the market at a panel discussion Tuesday. They also highlighted the growing potential in developing retail and office space. In a panel titled “Investing in Real Estate Development” at …

Piraeus Bank Egypt is to increase its capital by €35 million ($43 million) to expand its credit portfolio. The bank, almost fully owned by Greek group Piraeus Bank, will raise its capital by 24 percent over the next 70-75 days, chief executive Nayera Amin told reporters. "This capital increase shows that the mother bank in …

Shares in Orascom Telecom (OT) ended down 4.4 percent, dumped by investors seeking updates on any other possible suitors after talks to sell assets to South Africa’s MTN collapsed. "OT is being smashed. A lot of people have had it with the story. I think they are exiting the stock until they know what is …

LONDON: Oil prices rallied by 2 percent to $75 a barrel on Monday as renewed optimism about the global recovery boosted the outlook for fuel demand and sent Asian and European stock markets to their highest level in four weeks. US crude for July rose to a high of $75.51 a barrel and was up …

TEHRAN: Iran and Pakistan formally signed on Sunday an export deal which commits the Islamic republic to supplying its eastern neighbor with natural gas from 2014. The contract is the latest step in completing a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline between Iran and Pakistan within the next four years. "This is a happy day," Iran’s Deputy …

  TRIPOLI: Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi has accused world football’s governing body FIFA of being a "global mafia" that is involved in the trafficking of players from poor nations to wealthier ones.   "We condemn this global mafia, this corrupt organization," Qaddafi said late Saturday during a ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the …

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat said on Saturday it planned to invest LE 8 billion ($1.41 billion) in its Egyptian unit over the next three years, as it eyes growth in the market. "Our investment in the network has reached LE 8 billion till date, and we expect that we will invest LE 8 billion more …

CAIRO: Egyptian Treasury bill yields have jumped since May and may rise further as foreign investors have become more risk averse due to fears the euro zone debt crisis could deepen, analysts and Egyptian bond traders say. Though inflation has slowed, investors have also become more wary of Egyptian securities, especially longer-maturity T-bills, because of …

RAMALLAH: Negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis have resumed after a year and a half of a stalemate that began after Israel launched its devastating military assault against the Gaza Strip in December 2008. The resumption of negotiations came as a result of concerted and persistent efforts by the US administration and by President Barack Obama …

A public offering of shares in Egyptian dairy and juice maker Juhayna Food Industries has been fully covered, the firm’s financial adviser EFG-Hermes said on Wednesday. The public subscription, which involved about 41 million shares offered at LE 4.66 ($0.84) each, was the first IPO in Egypt since 2008. The public offering was part of …

JERUSALEM: Israel was working out details on Wednesday of a limited internal investigation into its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla and reportedly was considering easing its blockade of the territory. The Forum of Seven senior ministers met behind closed doors to discuss the mandate of the proposed investigating committee in the face of world …

  CAIRO: The Ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) has won 80 of 88 seats in the Shoura Council mid-term elections, the Supreme Electoral Commission announced in a conference Wednesday following the runoff elections. The other eight seats went to independent candidates and four opposition parties, commission Chairman Intissar Nassim told reporters as he announced the …

Egyptian dairy and juice maker Juhayna is offering 206 million shares at LE 5.64 ($1) each to raise LE 1.16 billion, it said in an announcement published in a newspaper on Sunday. In a statement to the stock exchange website, the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) said that it approved exempting obligatory tender offer submitted …

Arab governments have been urged to work together to implement a simpler set of visa procedures for their citizens when they are traveling. Participants at a tourism conference in Alexandria on Wednesday also called for ways and means to improve the tourist industry in the Arab world. "This conference deliberated on visa policy in particular …

An export warehouse belonging to Egyptian sanitaryware and ceramics maker Lecico has been destroyed by a fire, the firm said in a statement issued on the stock exchange on Thursday. No one was seriously injured in the fire in Alexandria but stocks were damaged and exports would be disrupted, it added. Higher sanitaryware volumes were …

ABU DHABI/MUMBAI: Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat confirmed it is looking to buy a stake in an Indian mobile operator, after a report that it was in talks with cash-hungry Reliance Communications for a $3.8 billion deal. Buying a stake in India’s second-biggest mobile operator would give Emirates Telecommunications Corp or Etisalat, a vital presence in the …

CAIRO: Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s fixed-line monopoly, said on Tuesday it would not increase its 45-percent stake in Vodafone’s Egypt unit following talks with the British firm, Reuters reported. "The parties have agreed that it is in the best interest of VFE (Vodafone Egypt) that the current ownership structure should remain in place," Telecom Egypt said …

Egypt’s producer price index rose 15.79 percent in April from a year earlier, based on index figures released by Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). The index was at 163.5 in April, up from 157.5 the previous month and 141.2 last year. The government started the new index in October 2007, replacing …

LONDON: Oil fell more than $2 to around $72 on Tuesday, erasing earlier gains, after Chinese and European data raised concerns over the pace of economic growth. China’s factories scaled back production last month and slowed the pace of hiring, the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for May showed on Tuesday. Manufacturing activity in the euro …

SHANGHAI: Invest AD, which manages investments for the Abu Dhabi government and institutional investors, said on Monday it was launching a private equity fund to invest in the Middle East and its Hong Kong partner will close subscriptions for a separate Middle East stock fund in June. Invest AD, formerly known as Abu Dhabi Investment …

SHANGHAI: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s biggest lender by market value said on Monday it was seeking acquisition opportunities to expand business in the Middle East and North Africa, hoping to benefit from booming trade between China and the Gulf region. ICBC, which currently has branches in Dubai, Doha and Abu …

DUBAI: Residential rents in Dubai are set to fall further in 2010 due to increased supply, while vacancy rates in Abu Dhabi’s office market are expected to rise to as much as 10 percent in 2011, a report said on Monday. Real estate services company CB Richard Eliis (CBRE) said it expects 31,194 new homes …

Amr Talaat was appointed General Manager of IBM Egypt, succeeding Amr Ghoneim who has held the post since 2004. Talaat, who joined the company in 1998, previously served as IBM Egypt’s Territory Manager since 2005.

Apache Corp said on Wednesday that following its second discovery this year in Egypt’s Matruh Basin, it plans to drill 11 more exploration wells in the western desert region. The oil and gas exploration and production company said the Samaa-1X well in the Matruh tested 44 million cubic feet of natural gas and 2,910 barrels …