Moheiddin: Companies to be offered for sale after individual preparation CAIRO: The Ministry of Investment (MOI) denied Monday news reports of its plans to privatize 100 fully and partially state-owned companies in 2007 including Eastern Tobacco, North Cairo Mills, Delta Fertilizers and Heliopolis Housing. “News published this morning of the Ministry’s intentions to privatize a …

CAIRO: Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abol Naga started negotiations with the Italian ambassador to Egypt Antonio Badini on the application of the second phase of Debt-for-Development Swap program. The agreement that was signed in 2001 was utilized in financing several developmental projects including rural development in Nubariya, establishing schools in different governorates, and subsidizing …

CAIRO: Egyptian shares drifted lower on Monday even as mobile telecom firms jumped on news that operator Vodafone Egypt had bought a 3G licence for $586 million, traders said. Egypt said it had signed a deal with Vodafone for a 15-year third generation mobile license, and Vodafone could start offering 3G services after Egypt s …

Report: low potential for political reform positive sign for economy CAIRO: A Business Monitor International (BMI) report released Thursday ranked the Egyptian economy first in the Middle East region on growth potential in 2007. The report confirmed the forecast of Minister of Investment Mahmoud Moheiddin for $7.5 billion to $8 billion in foreign direct investment …

CAIRO: Health services for expectant mothers and their babies in four of Upper Egypt’s governorates are to receive a major boost thanks to a grant of nearly two million dollars from the Japanese government to the United Nations Children’s Fund, UN officials have said. The funds will be formally delivered at a signing ceremony in …

Operator to start services “one day after Etisalat CAIRO: The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) and Vodafone Egypt (VFE) signed a contract yesterday for the latter’s purchase of a 3rd Generation operation license for LE 3.4 billion. The signing comes just one month before new mobile operator Etisalat is due to launch its …

Cairo: A Chinese delegation from maritime transport companies was visiting Cairo last week to explore investment opportunities in the Egyptian marine transport sector, with specific target to operate passenger ferries between Red Sea ports in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian Minister of Transport Mohammad Mansour said international marine transport companies can find great opportunities …

Cairo: Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi announced the discovery of six oil and gas finds in the Gulf of Suez, the eastern and western deserts and the Mediterranean, the State Information Service reported. The petroleum find from those areas is expected to secure an additional 140 million barrels of crude oil and condensates in addition …

Number of tourists reaches 9 million in 2006 CAIRO: The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) is now finalizing its re-planning of the North Coast ahead of launching an international marketing campaign in February to draw investment to the area, Minister of Tourism Zohair Garana said Thursday. Abandoned areas of the North Coast have been plagued for …

CAIRO: More than 100 complaints have been filed with the police against Karim Nashaat, the owner of Al Rabea for Car Trade, accusing him of stealing clients’ deferment payments and not delivering their cars on time. Ahmed Hashaad, a high ranking police officer at Al Khalifa police station, said Nashaat’s clients have been filing accusations …

Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi and Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khaled Shreidah discussed current progress of the Arab gas pipeline in Cairo earlier this week, reported the State Information Service. The project hopes to export Egyptian natural gas to several Arab countries, including Jordan. The ministerial meeting focused on the second phase …

CAIRO: The government announced Wednesday it has allocated LE 6 billion to its financial sector reform program for public banks, a joint Ministry of Investment (MOI), Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Central Bank statement released Wednesday said. The money will go toward paying off the banks debts, with LE 2 billion slated for The National …

Several recommendations were adopted at a meeting of electricity ministers of the seven member states of a regional power linkage project on earlier this week, including the approval of Palestine s accession to the project in principle, reported Egypt’s State Information Service. The seven countries included in the project are Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, …

Associated Press UNITED NATIONS: Diplomats in New York City still have not paid a nearly $18 million (-14 million) tab for parking tickets despite a government crackdown four years ago, and the new U.N. secretary-general appealed to them to obey local laws. It is important for diplomatic officials who enjoy diplomatic immunities and privileges to …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound rose slightly to 9.5 percent on Thursday from 9.480 percent on Wednesday despite the absence of central bank auctions, traders said. Banks usually revert to the interbank market in the absence of large central bank auctions for higher-yielding certificates of deposit, pushing rates lower. The …

Cairo: Egyptian currency strategists expect the US dollar prices to drop further against the Egyptian pound over the next three months to the end of Q1 2007. Their expectations are based on the high level of US dollar liquidity at local banks and the surging foreign currency reserves at the Central Bank of Egypt to …

Analyst: Central Bank reaction will depend on market reaction CAIRO: Inflation continued to climb in December, hitting 12.4 percent compared with 12.2 percent in November, according to preliminary Central Agency for Mobilization and Public Statistics (Capmas) report released this week. If confirmed, the figure will mark the ninth consecutive month of increases, but only a …

Legislation awaits final PA approval expected by end of January CAIRO: The new property tax law, calling for a reduction in property taxes from 46 percent to 10 percent, is now one step from becoming a reality after obtaining Council of Ministers’ approval Wednesday. The legislation, proposed by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in late …

Cairo: Investors Committee at the Federation of Industries launched sharp attacks on the General Authority for Industrial Development for allocating large plots of industrial land to international developers at the expense of local manufacturers, who need extra land to sustain their expansions. Sayed Al-Barhamtoushi, a director of the Investors Committee, said the current policies of …

CAIRO: Mediterranean Smart Cards Company (MSCC) announced that they have signed an agreement to handle smart card processing for the 11-country banking institution BSIC Group. The Bank, formally known as Banque Sahélo-Saharienne pour l’Investissement et le Commerce, is headquartered in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. It has operations in 10 other African countries, namely Benin, …

CAIRO: Fourteen international companies have expressed interest in operating new industrial zones and renovating others according to new government policy, General Authority for Free Zones and Investment (Gafi) Chairman Ziad Bahaeddin said Wednesday. Gafi will hold tenders for industrial zones to be established in the 6th of October City, 10th of Ramadan, Fayoum and Damietta …

Cairo: The Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) Unit at the Ministry of Trade and Industry has set off a number of measures to cut down the Israeli component requirement by one percentage point to 10.7 percent. Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid said in a statement Monday that the QIZ Unit would coordinate its …

Cairo: State-owned Misr Insurance Company plans to launch a new arm in the Iraqi market with a capital estimated at LE 30 million. The move represents the first initiative of its sort among Egyptian insurance companies. A senior official at Misr Insurance said on Monday that his company would contribute LE lion to the new …

CAIRO: In an effort to exchange experience and strengthen partnership between Egyptian and British businesses in the field of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the UK-Egypt Climate Change Business Seminar focused on financial structures, technology and advisory services for local CDM projects. Egyptian Minister of State for Environment Affairs Maged George told The Daily Star Egypt …

OCI earns 23 percent share in first phase CAIRO: Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) announced yesterday it has won a total of LE 1 billion in construction projects for the first of four phases of the Greater Cairo Metro Line 3. According to a statement released to the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange, OCI s share …

Cairo: Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) is leading a “big revolution in Egypt s telecom market, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) quoted the UAE Minister of Government Sector Development Sultan Bin Saeed Al-Mansouri as saying. In June 2006, Etisalat won the bid for the third Egyptian mobile network license, with a bid of LE16.7 billion. The …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on Egypt s pound dipped to 8.85 percent on Monday from 9.148 percent on Sunday on the last day of a central bank period for calculating bank reserves, traders said. It (the market) is liquid because we are at the end of the reserve period, and more than 90 …

CAIRO: Housing stocks led by Medinet Nasr Housing and Development pushed Egyptian stocks to slight gains on Monday after new stakeholders in the firm were granted seats on its board, traders said. Medinet Nasr shuffled its board at a recent assembly meeting to give four seats to the Beltone Group, Beltone said in a market …