Plan to finance LE 1 billion of LE 8 billion needed for universal healthcare coverage CAIRO: The government plans to introduce a bill to the People s Assembly to raise cigarette and alcohol taxes by as much as 20 percent to help finance universal health insurance as promised by President Hosni Mubarak during last year …

ALEXANDRIA: A consortium of U.S., Egyptian and Turkish companies has submitted the sole offer to operate the passenger terminal in the port of Alexandria, an official at the Alexandria Port Authority said on Tuesday. The official said the authority is studying the offer by the consortium, made up of U.S.-Norwegian Royal Caribbean , Egypt s …

CAIRO: The two main Egyptian share indexes made gains on Tuesday driven by telecoms, which have risen since Telecom Egypt said it would seek a larger stake in Vodafone Egypt, traders said. Telecom Egypt said last Tuesday it would seek to increase its stake in Vodafone Egypt by buying up to 24.4 percent of the …

CAIRO: Since Egypt Invest first appeared in 2003, discussing investment opportunities in Egypt, it has all come a long way. Starting with the FDI figure from 2003 of $452 million, Egypt entered one of the most prosperous and fastest investment paced periods in its history. Youssef Botrous Ghali, minister of finance, said recently that “We …

Importers: government regulation behind increased import costs CAIRO: The recent government decision to allow for the import of poultry from Brazil is proving to have little effect on reducing the 1 million chicken gap between supply and demand, the General Importer s Council (GIC) says. Due to strict guidelines set by the Prime Minister s …

CAIRO: Orascom Hotels and Development (OHD) said it had won Swiss government approval for a resort complex in the Swiss village of Andermatt. In a statement received on Monday, the Cairo-based company said it had obtained an exemption for the project from Lex Koller, a law which restricts foreign ownership of real estate. The project …

CAIRO: Cairo-based brokerage EFG-Hermes has obtained a license to offer online trading of Egyptian stocks and will start a gradual launch to existing clients within two weeks, an official said on Monday. We re ready for an immediate soft launch and we will start in a week or two depending on the exchange, said Mamdouh …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound dropped to 8.05 percent on Monday from 8.395 on Sunday, with the market liquid at the end of the reserve period, traders said. We had no deals. It s the last day of the reserve period, so naturally banks are squared, said one trader. Tuesday marks …

CAIRO: The government agreed on Monday to sell 90 percent of the historic department store chain Omar Effendi to the Saudi company Anwal for LE 589.5 million ($102.7 million), state news agency MENA said. Omar Effendi, which has branches in every large Egyptian town, was founded in 1856 under the name Orosdi Back and long …

CAIRO: Stocks were flat on Monday in the absence of major news to move the market during the month of Ramadan. The real estate sector secured some gains, led by Orascom Hotels and Development (OHD), which announced it had won Swiss government approval for a resort complex in the Swiss village of Andermatt. Shares in …

CAIRO: The microfinance industry in Egypt has grown rapidly in the last several years and faces a potential eight-fold increase in the number of clients, according to figures compiled by Paris-based Planet Finance. Planet Finance, an international NGO based in Paris, France, does not provide loans or direct aid to the poor, but provides know-how, …

Agence France-Presse RED SEA HILLS: After a 2,000-year lapse, Egypt is looking to acquire a gold-mining industry again by revisiting ancient deposits of the precious mineral that symbolized the glory of the Pharaohs. Josef Al-Raghy surveys Sukari Hill, a large reddish outcrop in Egypt s Eastern desert dotted with his Centamin company s drilling rigs. …

CAIRO: Stocks trended downwards in mixed trade on Sunday in a session truncated to three hours because of Ramadan. The two main indexes fell about 1 percent, dragged down by heavily traded investment bank EFG-Hermes, which ended 2.2 percent off at LE 41.50 ($7.23). A stock exchange statement said an EFG-Hermes subsidiary had obtained a …

CAIRO: Despite increased funding, education standards in the Middle East and North Africa get a failing grade and are falling behind those in other developing regions, according to a new World Bank report. While cash has been funneled into building schools, recruiting teachers and developing curricula, the current educational scheme offers little reward for students …

Pending general assembly approval: early retirement for 1,200, elimination of up to 24 branches CAIRO: A negotiation committee appointed by the Trade Holding Company (THC) to finalize the sale of Omar Effendi to Anwal Group reported Tuesday an agreement has been reached for Anwal to pay LE 50 million in early retirement compensation for 1,200 …

CAIRO: Thanks to a newly approved, $22 million contract, Cairo International Airport’s embryonic Terminal 3 will be among the most technologically advanced in the world. Some of the planned high-tech gadgets, which go into use when Terminal 3 opens in early 2008, are computerized self-serve kiosks, “fast-track biometric immigration gates and an efficient, number-crunching resource …

CAIRO: Telecom Egypt on Wednesday announced its offer to buy up to 24.4 percent of Vodafone Egypt in a move to increase its stake in the mobile phone operator. British group Vodafone will not be reducing its 50.1 percent stake in Vodafone Egypt, a source close to the deal has said. Telecom Egypt, which already …

Public-private-partnerships now vital to move project forward CAIRO: The ministers of irrigation of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, making up the Eastern Nile basin, announced Tuesday they have secured $750 million in loans and grants to implement the seven-year-old Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). The announcement came at the conclusion of talks, which were scheduled in August, …

Reuters DUBAI: Egypt s capital markets regulator will introduce a takeover and acquisition code governing publicly listed companies on Nov. 1, the exchange chairman said. Hani Sarie-Eldin said the Egyptian Capital Market Authority (CMA) drafted the policy due to growing interest in Egyptian companies from regional and global investors. In 2005, nine Egyptian firms, mainly …

Rachid promises tough measures ; some producers lower factory price to LE 300 CAIRO: Almost one month after the government capped the ex-factory and retail prices of cement at LE 290 and LE 330 per ton, respectively, none of the local producers have complied. Non-compliant producers include the 95 percent government-owned National Cement Company (NCC). …

CAIRO: Telecom Egypt said on Tuesday it would seek to increase its stake in Vodafone Egypt by up to 24.4 percent in a deal worth LE 5.856 billion ($1.02 billion). Telecom Egypt already holds a 25.5 percent stake in Vodafone Egypt, one of two mobile phone operators in the country of 73 million. Telecom Egypt …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound was 9 percent on Tuesday, barely changed from Monday 9.022 percent, with bankers shunning interbank trade in favor of central bank auctions. It s better for me to participate in the auctions, one banker said. Banks tend to prefer to invest in higher-yielding central bank instruments, …

CAIRO: In a move to improve slumping profits, photography giant Kodak is handing over a major chunk of its Egyptian operations to a new, domestically-based group, company officials announced this week. Vision International S.A.E., created from the ashes of Kodak’s former management team in Egypt, will handle the distribution, sales and servicing of the photo …

IBM and PAVI program graduate seven instructors for visually impaired in computer application CAIRO: IBM and the Parents Association of People with Visual Impairments (PAVI) celebrated the graduation of seven certified instructors and four trainers of computer skills for the visually disabled. Yet, during the joyful event, many of the graduates expressed their dismay that …

Licensing fee still not set by NTRA; license to be offered by end of year CAIRO: Vodafone Egypt (VFE) has unofficially announced its decision to bid for one of the two international gateway operators licenses to be offered by the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) by the end of this year. The move comes just …

CAIRO: Intel Corporation introduced an innovative new package of hardware and software on Wednesday at a lavish event at the Grand Hyatt Cairo. Called Intel vPro, the new technology is poised to remake the way that businesses of all sizes use their personal computers and wider networks by providing IT professionals with higher levels of …

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina: An Egyptologist who investigated two hills in central Bosnia believed by some to be ancient pyramids on Wednesday recommended that archaeological digs be carried out there. After investigating the two hills for a week, Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Ali, a professor of Egyptology in Cairo, said nobody should be jumping to conclusions but having …

QIZ credited with shift; possible movement in coming months on FTA CAIRO: The balance of Egyptian-American trade recorded a $395 million surplus after the first three quarters of 2006, U.S. Embassy Commercial Advisor Amer Kiyani told the Egyptian Businessmen s Association (EBA) Wednesday. Egypt has traditionally recorded annual deficits in trade with the U.S. In …

The company s strategy in the upcoming phase and the tastes of local consumers CAIRO: With the number of current mobile phone subscribers topping 14 million and with the new third mobile network operator coming arriving, Nokia s Tomi Paatsila stresses the significant and ongoing growth in the market. During a visit to Cairo this …

CAIRO: Stock indexes rose slightly on Wednesday as the housing sector surged, led by gains in Sixth of October Development and Investment (SODIC), which plans a capital increase, traders said. But textile shares slumped after Arabia Cotton Ginning announced 12-month results that came in lower than market expectations, they said. Shares in SODIC, which has …