Reuters NEW ORLEANS: The chief executive of oil and gas producer Devon Energy Corp. on Monday said it is in talks with a buyer for its Egyptian assets and said it did not need to make any large acquisitions to meet its growth targets. We think we have created a very strong portfolio of North …

CAIRO: The Egyptian government will use $1 billion in loans from the World Bank and the African Development Bank to raise the capital of the country s two biggest state banks, National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr, a statement said on Wednesday. The World Bank is lending $500 million and the African Development Bank …

CAIRO: France Telecom hopes to build on the success of its development in Egypt to further expand in the region, chairman Didier Lombard said on Tuesday. I always said that the growth opportunities of France Telecom are focused on this part of the world because it s a region where the growth rate is one …

CAIRO: Strikes by flourmill workers ended Monday following a meeting that brought together union representatives from Cairo and Giza flourmills companies, and three cabinet ministers. Magdy Abdel Azim, deputy head of the Union Committee of the North Cairo flour mills told The Daily Star Egypt that the workers were satisfied with the decision of Minister …

CAIRO: A new internet broadcast called “Horytna or “Our Freedom ran by 20 young people began transmission in Cairo less than one month ago under the banner “We chase the truth . Blog on Air . “This is the first youth internet radio station, but it won’t be the last. Everyone can start a station …

CAIRO: Mobinil has agreed to suspend offering Edge Technology and upgrade its network in exchange for governmental authorization to offer lifetime validity to its prepaid customers and add one million new numbers, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) announced Tuesday. According to a ministry statement, Mobinil will invest in upgrading its network over …

CAIRO: Officials at Emaar Properties announced that the company has completed a $142 million deal to take full ownership of its Egyptian subsidiary, Emaar Misr, Guf News reported. They explained that Emaar Misr, which has a share base of 37.73 million of which 60 percent were held by Artoc Group for investment and development, is …

CAIRO: Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieddin, during his visit to France, held a series of meetings with representatives of more than 20 financial institutions, investment banks and real estate firms, reported the State Information Service. The minister reviewed economic reforms and measures adopted by Egypt to increase foreign direct and indirect investments. The minister was …

ISMAILIYA: Transit fees for ships using Egypt s Suez Canal increased on Sunday by an average of nearly three percent, the canal authority said, in the second such increase in a year. Director of Public Relations Mohammed Moussa told AFP that the change took effect at midnight, as originally announced by the authority in December. …

Company continues MENA expansion; plans to add 10 million tons to cement production capacity in next 6 months CAIRO: Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) reported late last week net income reached LE 2.67 billion in 2006 on nearly LE 16.5 billion in consolidated revenues for its construction and cement groups. The figures represent a 57 percent …

CAIRO: International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is helping Lebanon’s Indevco Group go green as the company builds its presence in Egypt. Today, IFC committed a $26.4 million investment in support of the company’s new $76.8 million tissue paper mill, which will use wastepaper as its primary source …

CAIRO: Dubai-based Emaar Properties has acquired Artoc Group’s 60 percent share in Emaar Misr for $142 million (LE 809 million), capping the much publicized conflict begun in the last quarter of 2006. The announcement came separately from both sides on Thursday, one day after the Holding Company for Tourism (HCT) initiated legal action to reclaim …

CAIRO: A group of Egyptian businessmen and representative of Chinese public companies signed 11 deals worth $30 million to export different products from Egypt, including marble, granite, oranges, linen, phosphates and petrochemicals. The signing ceremony, held Thursday night at the Four Seasons Hotel, was attended by Tao Hucheng, Chinese vice minister of commerce, and Mohammed …

CAIRO: Local mobile operators have been granted 30 days to reach a roaming agreement, National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority Chairman Amr Badawy said Tuesday. Roaming negotiations have been ongoing since Etisalat won the third operator’s license for LE 16.7 billion last July. An agreement would allow Etisalat to use the facilities of existing operators Mobinil and …

CAIRO: The Holding Company for Tourism (HCT) announced yesterday it is launching legal action against Emaar Misr to reclaim the Sidi Abdel Rahman land plot sold for LE 1.2 billion earlier this month. HCT’s announcement came one day after the expiration of the deadline announced by the Ministry of Investment for Artoc Group to sell …

CAIRO: A consortium of four banks, headed by Commercial International Bank (CIB), has finalized a deal with the Egyptian Propylene and Polypropylene Company (EPPC) to finance $450 million (LE 2.6 billion) for the establishment of a new processing plant in Port Said. The deal, signed Tuesday night, represents the largest lending transaction this year completed …

CAIRO: The Ministry of Investment announced Tuesday it has selected Beltone Financial to prepare and execute the initial public offering of a 15 percent stake in the Bank of Alexandria (BoA) by the end of the year. Beltone won the tender offered by the government late last month, although contract terms and deal value have …

CAIRO: Emaar Egypt plans to file a complaint with the main authorities in Egypt about the decision by the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange (Case) to list the company s shares in the non-official rolls, according to Laila Shaker, spokeswoman of Emaar Egypt. The decision was based on claims that the company failed to submit …

CAIRO: The National Cement Company (NCC) announced Tuesday plans to invest LE 500 million to raise its annual production capacity by 30 percent to 3.9 million tons per year. The 95 percent government-owned company is the largest remaining public sector producer. In a statement, the company said it plans to upgrade two of its production …

Artoc: negotiations likely to extend beyond today’s deadline to finalize a deal CAIRO: The Capital Market Authority declined Emaar Misr’s application for share-listing Sunday, citing the company’s failure to submit financial statements reflecting the company’s activities over a one-year period. The development, announced by Emaar Misr on Monday, came just two days before 60 percent …

CAIRO: A new Egyptian satellite, MisrSat-1, will launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Tuesday, announced Ukrainian Ambassador Yevhen Mykytenko. MisrSat-1 – described once by Minister of Higher Education Hany Helal as the Earth surveillance satellite – was built for development purposes, which include exploring for minerals, scientific research, cultivation and combating desertification, the ambassador told …

Project to connect eight countries from Sudan to South Afirca CAIRO: Alcatel-Lucent signed this month to begin construction of the second phase of a 10,000 km submarine cable system to connect eight East African countries, providing conventional calling services and broadband access to the region. Initiated in 2003 as the East Africa Submarine Cable System …

CAIRO: The Ministry of Trade and Industry has reduced its strict measures on the establishment of new iron and steel factories to boost production capacity in the domestic market and crack down on rising prices. Rachid Mohamed Rachid, minister of Trade and Industry, approved on Thursday proposals for setting up two factories for directly reduced …

Kamel: international calling licensing postponed to May CAIRO: The government is studying further liberalization of the telecommunications sector including offering a second fixed-line license and floating another 20 percent stake in Telecom Egypt (TE) in 2009, Minister of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) Tarek Kamel said Wednesday. Kamel’s comments came on the sidelines of a …

CAIRO: The general meeting of Banque Misr shareholders approved on Thursday the bank s acquisition of the entire shares of Banque Du Caire at a total value of LE 1.6 billion. The value of the bank s 400 million shares will be transferred to the account of the Ministry of Finance in its capacity of …

CAIRO: Etisalat Egypt, the third mobile license winner, has pushed back its market entrance date originally slated for the end of February and put off until the end of this month. Speaking in London, Minister of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) Tarek Kamel said he expected the company to initiate its services in the second …

CAIRO: Egyptian telecom industry officials have strongly criticized the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) for the lack of clarity and transparency on offering licenses for international communications operations, which has been delayed for several months. Minister of Communication Tarek Kamel had announced on Sunday that the government would offer licenses for handling international …

Beshay Steel lowers ex-factory rebars price to LE 3,250 per ton CAIRO: The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) raised the export duty for select steel products Wednesday from LE 160 per ton to LE 180 per ton, reinforcing February’s levied duties on cement and steel exports. In announcing the decision, Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid …

CAIRO: Egyptian share indexes edged down on Tuesday led by Egyptian Tourism for Resorts which saw its stock hit by profit-taking as the session s most heavily traded share by volume, traders said. Egyptian Tourism for Resorts had one of the heaviest volumes in trade I have seen, said Hashem Ghoneim of El Nour Securities. …

CAIRO: The official unemployment rate in Egypt rose to 10.9 percent in FY2005-2006 compared with 10.5 percent in FY2004-2005, according to recent reports from the Ministry of Finance. Economists say the figures weigh heavily on the opportunities for economic growth, as they represent a waste of human resources that otherwise would contribute to higher GDP …