CAIRO: Winning the race against Dubai and Saudi Arabia, Egypt raked in the much-coveted New Millennium Award. The annual Award, given to the top 105 restaurants, hotels, or caterers, went to Sakkara Country Club & Resort, The Concorde El Salam Hotel, and the First Mall s La Gourmandise restaurant. Ibrahim Sami, owner and general manager …

CAIRO: Egypt will significantly reduce import duties on a wide range of both manufactured goods and raw materials, in an effort to lower consumer prices and combat smuggling, the minister of finance said on Monday. Youssef Boutros-Ghali told a news conference the average import tariff would drop around 25 percent to 6.5 percent, and that …

Reuters DUBAI: Saudi Arabia s Savola Group expects to start up a sugar refinery in Egypt in August and to further expand its Saudi facility to meet rising domestic and regional demand, a senior company official said on Monday. Output from the 750,000 tons a year Egypt plant, a joint venture with companies including Tate …

CAIRO: Acer Computer Middle East and Mantrac have announced today that they will look to supply the lion’s share of PC’s earmarked for millions of homes across Egypt as part of its home computing initiative. The plan will see desktop requirements met by 10 government approved partners – seven Egyptian and three international vendors – …

CAIRO: The Suez Canal was closed on Sunday to large ships because of bad weather in the country, an official in the Suez Canal Authority said. The official said three ships seeking to cross to the Red Sea were denied permission to do so. Bad weather forced Egypt to close seven ports on the Red …

CAIRO: In response to a strong need for private medical services in Egypt, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has stepped in to help according to news reports. IFC will support the Middle East and North Africa s health care industry by financing the expansion of the …

DUBAI: The director of Dow Jones Islamic Index Group has said the Islamic finance market valued at $500 billion was edging up at an annualized growth rate of 10-15 percent, arguing that Islamic indexes had outperformed regional stock markets. Speaking to Al-Khaleej, A. Rushdi Siddiqui maintained that concerted efforts from all players were necessary in …

CAIRO: Italian Edison Company has won a new deal launched by the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to explore for gas in a submarine area east of Alexandria. A senior official at EGAS said the Italian company would explore for natural gas in Area 8 in the deep waters of the Mediterranean, noting that …

CAIRO: The Egyptian-German Business Forum concluded its meetings Sunday with the signing of four agreements aimed at modernizing Egyptian industries and increasing bilateral trade. On the industrial front, Siemens Egypt Automation and Drives signed three agreements with the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) and the Industrial Training Center (ITC) to develop the production capabilities of select …

CAIRO: Chinese Zotye Auto Company is mulling over a proposal to manufacture Chinese models in the domestic market to benefit from the government incentives to car manufacturers in Egypt. The company’s general manager said last week that Zotye Auto plans to offer two or three models in the Egyptian market this year and, in cooperation …

Central Bank: Inflation rate expected to remain high until effects of previous price increases level off CAIRO: The Monetary Policy Committee decided in its monthly meeting Thursday to maintain overnight lending and deposit rates at 8.75 and 10.75, respectively, despite wide analyst expectations of another hike to counter rising inflation. As of press time, the …

CAIRO: Nagib Sawiris, the chairman of Orascom Telecom, said his company’s competition over the third mobile phone operation in Saudi Arabia would be made through an alliance with Saudi Arabian Al Rajehi Group and Abdullah Kamel Group. Sawiris said on Thursday that on winning the deal, he would offer 40 percent of the third mobile …

CAIRO: Orascom Telecom on Thursday priced a $750 million bond with a yield at the low end of guidance, a banker familiar with the sale said. The 7-year bond was priced at par with a coupon of 7.875 percent, the banker said, the tight end of the range given late on Wednesday of 7.875 to …

CAIRO: Several leading economists attacked the Ministry of Investment s (MOI) privatization program during a round table discussion Tuesday, claiming sales of government assets have lacked transparency and have yet to be proven beneficial to the economy. In the seminar organized by the Development Partners Center, Ahmed El Naggar, senior economist at Al-Ahram Center for …

BP Egypt announces 1 trillion cubic feet natural gas find north of Alexandria CAIRO: Turkish protests against a joint oil and gas exploration deal between Egypt, Lebanon, and Cyprus in the Mediterranean waters surrounding the island nation drew further criticism from Nicosia Wednesday. Speaking on Cypriot State Radio, Minister of Commerce Antonis Michaelides said Cyprus …

CAIRO: Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said providing new job opportunities and solving the problem of unemployment top the government priorities and constitute a key target the government is seeking to achieve through cooperation and coordination among all ministries, reported the State Information Service Thursday. The Prime Minister singled out the importance of the role of …

MADRID: Spanish wind energy company Gamesa said it has signed a contract to supply Egypt with wind turbines worth $365 million. The 284 turbines will have a power output of 241 megawatts. They will be used in the construction of two new wind farms in Zafarana, on the shores of the Red Sea.

El Maghrabi: legislation amendments will solve 85 percent of investor problems CAIRO: A final draft of the new unified construction law is now being prepared for presentation to the People s Assembly within the next two months, Minister of Housing and Population (MHP) Ahmed El Maghrabi said Wednesday. The long-awaited legislation, expected to cut down …

Emphasis on small and medium sized businesses CAIRO: The General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (Gafi) increased its emphasis on domestic investment alongside attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the past year, chairman Dr Ziad Ahmed Bahaa El Din said. “In the past we focused on investment from abroad mainly, but last year we …

CAIRO: Egypt’s International Economic Forum (EIEF) held a special session at the Cairo Marriott Sunday on the economic development of China by Siwei Cheng, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Committee. Shafik Gabr, chairman of EIEF, introduced Cheng, highlighting the scholar’s influential views in fields such as the capital market, venture …

CAIRO: The US is aiming to establish a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which comprises the entire Middle East within seven years according, US Deputy Secretary of Commerce David A. Sampson said at a round table on Tuesday. Sampson, visiting Egypt where he met government officials, had inaugurated the new US-Egypt Business Council USEBC a day …

LE 100 million facility to house 57 abattoirs CAIRO: Members of the Poultry Division of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce announced this week the establishment of a LE 10 million capital abattoir operation company with facilities to be located in Al Nahda City Industrial Zone. The company will operate 57 abattoirs to supply chilled and …

CAIRO: Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros Ghali expected inflation rates to return back to a natural level over the next few months after neutralization of the impacts of global energy prices. During his meeting Monday with a group of US business people in Cairo, the minister stated that global energy prices had pushed the inflation …

CAIRO: British Airways (BA) recently inaugurated the opening of its new offices at the InterContinental Residence Suites at the City Stars complex. The British Ambassador Sir Derek Plumbly attended the event and gave a good luck speech for the new offices. He was welcomed by Mervat Alfy, the commercial manager of BA in Egypt, as …

Sawiris-owned TV channel launches today CAIRO: Business tycoon Naguib Sawiris s much talked-about satellite TV channel OTV launches today on Nile Sat in a major step forward by the Egyptian billionaire to create the biggest media conglomerate in the country. This is not Sawiris first endeavor in the broadcast arena – the Egyptian mogul owns …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on Egypt s pound rose to 9.5 percent on Tuesday from 9.103 percent on Monday at the start of a new central bank period for calculating reserves, traders said. Basically it s the first day of the reserve period and also today there is a certificates of deposit auction …

CAIRO: Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy announced Tuesday that the world s second biggest oil firm BP had discovered more than one trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Mediterranean. The discovery was made 668 meters (2,250 feet) below sea level north of Alexandria by BP Egypt and is equivalent to half of Egypt …

CAIRO: Egyptian stocks bounced back on Tuesday from a nearly two-week downward streak, with Ezz Steel surging 7 percent on unconfirmed rumors of a possible capital increase, traders said. Shares in Ezz Steel soared to LE 51.40 ($9.02), leading the market higher, with big cap stocks like Orascom Telecom and Orascom Construction Industries also gaining …

Analyst: Government needs to implement existing laws and amend ineffective ones CAIRO: A new proposal for the establishment of a national task force to fight corruption will be presented to the Council of Ministers Wednesday, a Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD) official said Sunday. Reports of MSAD s proposal first surfaced in January …