CAIRO: Raya Holding Company is taking measures to acquire 75 percent of the Call Center Company, C3, in line with its plans to expand contact center services to clients in Egypt and abroad. Raya’s chairman Medhat Khalil told NOOZZ that his company will secure the cost of the takeover deal from the proceeds of its …

The Egyptian Ministry of Transportation will announce the winners of a deal regarding the first phase of the Cairo Underground third line which extends over 4.3 km on Oct. 20. French companies, including Alstom and Alcatel, have won the deal for construction and central control works with the Egyptian Orascom Construction Industries, as they were …

TE reduces rates to counter effects of loss of monopoly on services CAIRO: The National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) will offer two international calling operators licenses to the private sector by the end of November, NTRA Chairman Amr Badawi announced Sunday. Bidding condition statements were supposed to have been released as early as January 2006. …

AMOC stock up more than 10 percent since NBE announcement CAIRO: More than two months after the conclusion of due-diligence procedures by five potential buyers of the National Bank of Egypt s (NBE) 50 percent stake in Alexandria Mineral Oils Company (AMOC) and almost one month after NBE sent out the call for bids, not …

CAIRO: Egypt s second and third-largest state-owned bank would merge by the end of the year, chairman of Banque Misr, one of the two banks, said in remarks published on Sunday. The government had announced plans to merge Banque Misr and Banque du Caire last year as part of a move to create fewer, bigger …

LONDON: Spanish power company Iberdrola has received the first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) under a deal it has with the developers of Norway s yet-to-start Snoehvit gas field, it said on Friday. The 145,000 cubic meters of gas delivered to the Sagunto LNG plant on the Mediterranean coast came from Egypt. The Snoehvit …

ISMAILIA: A Liberian tanker impounded in Egypt for spilling oil in the Suez Canal is facing more than LE 50 million ($8.7 million) in compensation demands, a Canal Authority official said on Thursday. The official said that the authority would ask the owners of the P.C. Anna to pay around LE 30 million in damages …

MILAN: Italian power company Enel said on Friday it is not in talks to end its 26 percent stake in Weather Investments, in response to a newspaper report that it could sell the holding. Enel said its stake in Weather, which controls Wind, Italy s number-two mobile phone operator, remained unchanged. Enel also said it …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound dipped to 8.9 percent on Wednesday from 8.972 percent on Tuesday as the absence of central bank auctions pumped liquidity into the market, traders said. It is going down because there are no auctions today, one dealer said. The rate slide followed a similar decrease on …

CAIRO: The bourse was hit by a second, milder day of profit taking across the board after a two-week rally boosted by gains in the telecom sector, traders said on Wednesday. A lot of selling pressure occurred, especially profit-taking, taking advantage of the rally that took place in the market the past couple of weeks, …

CAIRO: Vodafone Egypt and Raya Holding have agreed to increase the capital of Raya Telecom Company by about LE 50 million to LE 211.4 million. Medhat Khalil, chairman of Raya Holding, said during the signature ceremony of the agreement on Vodafone’s 51 percent takeover of Raya Telecom that the capital increase aims to expand the …

CAIRO: The Egyptian General Authority of Investment and Free Zones has prepared details on infrastructure, construction and tourism investment opportunities that will be offered to 1,000 Arab investors in Egypt. The investors include Arab financial institutions and investment companies. The move comes as part of GAFI’s preparations for the Cairo Investment Forum organized in coordination …

CAIRO: Profit-taking in Egypt s telecom sector sent Egyptian shares down on Tuesday as retail investors sold stocks after a bullish run last week over Telecom Egypt s deal to raise its stake in Vodafone Egypt. The market has been doing very well in the last week. It was gaining every day, especially Telecom Egypt, …

CAIRO: Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid may have tried to counter dramatic cement price increases this year by setting a LE 300 per ton price cap off the factory floor, but the reality is, in an industry dominated by the private sector, many companies are ignoring the government s regulation attempts. In …

CAIRO: Egyptian stocks made slight gains on Monday, driven up by optimism over a deal by Telecom Egypt to increase its stake in Vodafone Egypt in a deal valued at 5.63 billion Egyptian pounds ($981.5 million). Telecom Egypt is one of the eye-catching stocks … Ever since they announced they wanted to buy this stake …

CAIRO: Boeing and EgyptAir on Sunday marked delivery of the airline’s first Next-Generation 737-800 by announcing the Cairo-based carrier’s exercise of options for six additional 737-800s. The total order for 12 airplanes is valued at $850 million at list prices and marks a significant investment by EgyptAir to bolster its regional operations. “The Next-Generation 737 …

TE share in VFE up to 49 percent; VFE welcomes acquisition CAIRO: Telecom Egypt (TE) officials said Sunday the company has succeeded in purchasing 56.3 million shares of Vodafone Egypt (VFE) for LE 5.5 billion. TE s acquisition has not yet been finalized as the company is still in the process of financing LE 4 …

CAIRO: Egyptian stocks edged a sliver higher on Sunday driven by the telecom sector, which has gained momentum since Telecom Egypt said it would seek a larger share in Vodafone Egypt. The momentum in the market has been up since the Telecom Egypt offer for Vodafone and the healthy momentum was extended today, Mohammed Radwan …

Associated Press NEW YORK: Seventeen students from Egypt arrived at New York s Kennedy airport in late July for what was supposed to be an exciting month in America. Their destination was a Montana university where they were to learn about U.S. history and culture while improving their English. But things didn t go as …

Bank to be sold via closed-envelope auction CAIRO: The deadline for the financial bids for an 80 percent stake in the Bank of Alexandria (BA) has been extended to Oct. 16, The Central Bank (CB) and Ministry of Investment (MOI) announced Saturday. In a statement, CB added a closed-envelope auction will be held over several …

Ministry of Investment accelerates PPP drive CAIRO: Pushing forward with his widely publicized strategy of developing public-private-partnerships (PPP) as means of spurring economic growth, Minister of Investment Mahmoud Moheiddin said last week the ministry will introduce projects in education, transportation and healthcare by the end of the year. Moheiddin maintains Egypt presents a lucrative market …

CAIRO: Implementation of the banking sector reform plan, now well under way, is resulting in a strengthening banking system, says Moody s Investors Service in its new Banking System Outlook for Egypt. Nevertheless, the ongoing reform process still has some way to go. According to Moody s, the Egyptian government has acknowledged the longstanding issues …

CAIRO: Stocks edged upwards on Thursday in quiet Ramadan trade at the end of the third quarter. Interest in Vodafone Egypt subsided on an announcement that Cairo-based business group Alkan will accept Telecom Egypt s offer to buy its 5 percent stake in Vodafone at 100 pounds a share. The Egyptian press had speculated that …

CAIRO: The Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul Naga has signed 10 agreements on financial grants provided by U.S. economic aid to Egypt at a combined value of $405 million. The funds will be used to support efforts to revamp infrastructure in health and education, in addition to supporting economic reforms and the private …

CAIRO: Alkan chairman Mohamed Nosseir has accepted Telecom Egypt s offer of LE 100 ($17.42) a share for the business group s 5 percent stake in Vodafone Egypt, a Vodafone Egypt spokeswoman said. The company has been notified that the chairman has submitted sell orders for Alkan s stake, investor relations manager Marwa El Ayouti …

CAIRO: EFG-Hermes announced yesterday that it has received approval from Egypt s Central Monitory Authority to launch and operate its online trading in Egypt. Since launching online trading in the UAE in May 2006, trading volumes have grown 10 fold. Mamdouh El Baz, regional head of On-Line Trading for EFG-Hermes, said Now our customers in …

CAIRO: Jordanian-based Shaheen Group unveiled plans Wednesday to construct a $2 billion (LE 11.5 billion) resort in Sahl Hasheesh near Hurghada on the Red Sea. Construction on the project, aimed to attract the rich and the elite of Europe and the World, as stressed by Shaheen officials, will begin in early 2007 and last for …

CAIRO: The two main Egyptian share indexes rose at least 1 percent on Wednesday on continuing interest in telecommunications after the Telecom Egypt offer to raise its stake in Vodafone Egypt. Telecom Egypt shares last traded 2 percent higher at LE 15.02 ($2.62) and brokers said the company had a good chance of increasing its …

1,200 km highway has potential to boost economy but cost worrisome CAIRO: A five-member ministerial committee began work this month to study the feasibility of constructing a 1,200 km North-South highway proposed by Egyptian academic Farouq El Baz, of Boston University. The nine-month study of what the committee is referring to as the Development Corridor, …

CAIRO: The Industry Development Agency in Arab Al-Awamer, Assiut, south of Egypt, has approved the creation of a new pharmaceuticals laboratory with an authorized capital of LE 150 million and a paid-in capital of LE 90 million. Ali Hussein, general manager of investors’ services department at Assiut governorate, told NOOZZ on Monday that a land …