CAIRO: Syria’s ban on Egyptian exports of guava and mango has triggered a new crisis in trade relations between the two Arab countries and is expected to top the discussions of a joint committee meeting in Cairo early in September. Saeed Abdullah, official in charge of trade agreements at the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and …

Public tenders for 50 schools to be held next month CAIRO: The Ministry of Finance has announced the initiation of a new public-private partnership (p.p.p.) to build 50 elementary and secondary schools in 11 governorates in an attempt to meet the president s campaign promise of introducing 3,500 new schools into the system by 2011. …

Raising awareness the first major challenge for NGOs CAIRO: More than 60 consumer protection NGOs will begin implementation of the country s first consumer protection law today. Ratified in May, the law requires businesses to accept returns and exchanges within 14 days as long as a receipt is presented, and stipulates fines from LE 5,000 …

CAIRO: Investors including businessman Naguib Sawiris are pooling their investment banking and brokerage operations with Commercial International Bank (CIB), a statement said on Sunday. Sawiris and Oasis Capital will buy equity in Commercial International Capital Holding (CICH), which owns CIB s brokerage, asset management and investment banking operations. Sawiris is chairman of regional mobile phone …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound fell on Sunday to 8.35 percent from Thursday s 8.397 percent as banks shunned the market in favor of high-yielding central bank instruments, traders said. Today I noticed there are no auctions to cause a drop in liquidity. But the impact of last week s auctions …

CAIRO: Stocks rose on Sunday, led by rising interest in Orascom Telecom on optimism over an expected rise in the company s net profit for the first half of 2006, traders said. The market went up today basically on the back of OT, which rallied and carried a lot of weight, and this is related …

The consortium also includes Egypt Post, Al Ahli Bank and CIB Dubai: The Etisalat-led consortium, which recently won the third mobile license in Egypt, is currently in negotiations with the Egyptian National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to obtain an international telecommunication service licence, a top Etisalat official said. Mohammad Omran, chairman of Etisalat, told Gulf …

Index flattens after flurry of activity during conflict CAIRO: After a full week of sideways trading, Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange (CASE) investors were beginning to wonder if the trend meant the end of the rally experienced by the CASE 30 Index over the past month. And it all showed on Thursday when, by midday, …

Loses extended after news that Egypt purchased Canadian wheat KANSAS CITY: Hard red winter wheat futures at the Kansas City Board of Trade were lower in early moves on Friday, extending losses after news that Egypt bought Canadian wheat, traders said. At 9:50 a.m. CDT, wheat futures were 2-8 cents lower, with the September wheat …

Company hopes to provide a comprehensive community for customers CAIRO: Ever since the government made real estate development a priority on their agenda, all eyes have turned to the North Coast. However, none has garnered more attention than the Sidi Abdel Rahman Bay auction, which put the auction’s winner, Emaar Misr, in the spotlight. Emaar …

CAIRO: Orascom Hotels and Development posted a 178 percent rise in net profit for the first half of 2006 to LE 127 million ($22 million), the stock exchange said on Wednesday. The firm reported a net profit of 46 million pounds in the same period of 2005. Orascom Hotels shares ended the day 3 percent …

Possible postponement result of security issues, not political ones CAIRO: The quarter-annual meeting of the joint Egyptian-Israeli Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) committee, scheduled for the end of this month in Jerusalem, is likely to face postponement for security reasons related to the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, says Bassem Sultan, QIZ committee chairman at the American …

CAIRO: Egypt will assist the Palestinian Authority in restoring part of its electrical power supply, an Energy Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. Egypt would deliver and install electrical transformers to a power station in Gaza, to replace transformers damaged by Israel during recent violence, ministry spokesman Aktham Aboul Ela told Reuters. The seven Egyptian-made electrical …

CAIRO: Over the last decade, the sport of golf has blossomed from a niche pastime into a full-fledged sport, increasing the demand for golf courses, golf tournaments and more golf related mediums throughout the country and consequently opened a new industry of golf tourism. Golf has a historic relationship with Egypt, dating back to the …

CAIRO: Egyptian telecoms regulators have told mobile operator Mobinil it must either stop using EDGE technology that allows users to see streaming video or apply for a 3G license, Mobinil said on Tuesday. Mobinil, which has deferred a decision to apply for a license for higher-bandwidth 3G technology for a year citing unattractive terms, said …

CAIRO: Investment bank EFG-Hermes said on Tuesday its net income for the first half of 2006 soared 289 percent to LE 358 million, but the results were at the low end of analyst expectations. Three analysts had forecast net income for the period at between LE 358 and LE 408 million. Some traders had expressed …

Egypt hopes to help world meet need for medical equipment CAIRO: The medical equipment production industry is in the throes of major growth if recent economic indicators are anything to go by. According to Dr. Sherif Ezzat, president of the non-pharmaceutical medical industry division at the Chamber of Engineering Industries, part of the Egyptian Federation …

Company must seek regional expansion, stay competitive at home to improve results, says analyst CAIRO: Telecom Egypt s (TE) subscriber base grew by 8.5 percent and net profits reached LE 1.1 billion ($191 million), up 7.3 percent, from H1 2005 results, the company announced yesterday in its first H1 2006 report since a 20 percent …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on Egypt s pound rose on Tuesday to 8.35 percent from Monday s 8.072 percent after an auction for higher-yielding certificates of deposit drained market liquidity, traders said. Due to the central bank auction liquidity is lower, one banker said. Central bank instruments typically give greater returns than the …

NOOZ The Egyptian Airports Company has launched a new plan to improve the efficiency of runways in Taba Airport at a cost of LE 15 million, in addition to the construction of an LE 75 million passenger terminal at Hurghada Airport, said Magdeddin Ibrahim, chairman of the Egyptian Airports Company on Sunday. He pointed out …

CAIRO: Egyptian stocks dipped in thin trade in Monday, but interest in flour mills and National Societe Generale Bank (NSGB) helped buoy the market, traders said. Shares in NSGB, which bought a 90.7 percent stake in Misr International Bank (MIBank) in 2005, rose 2.09 Egyptian pounds ($0.36), or 6 percent, to 36.9 pounds. A trader …

New plan aims for 30 percent of households by 2010 CAIRO: Twelve companies have purchased the conditions statement for The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology s (MCIT) initiative to re-launch its 2002 PC for Every Home campaign. MCIT s new effort provides more affordable computers and stricter guidelines on participating companies in an effort …

CAIRO: Egyptian brokerage HC Securities cut its target prices for Egypt s mobile phone operators, predicting they will have to buy 3G licences. HC cut its target for Mobinil to 192 Egyptian pounds ($33.45) from 232.5 pounds, and for Vodafone Egypt to 99 pounds from 120 pounds. Mobinil shares closed on Thursday at 138.05 pounds …

CAIRO: Calyon Bank Egypt reported an 81 percent rise in net profit in the first half of 2006 to LE 35.3 million ($6.1 million), the stock exchange said on Monday. Calyon reported a net profit of LE 19.5 million in the same period last year. The bank is 75 percent owned by French investment bank …

Nile Medicine Company to start producing badly needed medication locally CAIRO: For the first time in the history of the country, antibiotics for liver diseases will be produced locally for 50 percent less than the price of their imported counterparts. Liver diseases have plagued the population for a long time. Other than liver cancer and …

Noozz Investors from the Arab Gulf countries control about 99 percent of the total Arab contribution to Egyptian tourist development projects, accounting for LE 403.4 million of total investment estimated at LE 406 million. Khaled Makhlouf, the chairman of Egypt’s Tourism Promotion Authority, told NOOZZ earlier this week that Kuwaiti investors pumped the largest amount …

Egypt may have leaned too heavily on recently discovered natural gas supplies CAIRO: According to the findings of the latest report conducted by the Petroleum Economist and the Statistical Review of World Energy, Egypt’s domestic consumption of natural gas is the highest in the African continent. While the government and private sector corporations in the …

NOOZZ CAIRO: Officials at international energy companies operating in Egypt have raised complaints about the sluggish pace of final approvals on agreements with the Egyptian government, warning that such sluggishness could affect their plans for oil and gas exploration efforts. One official noted that though Egypt accounts for the highest average of approvals compared with …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound fell to 8.15 percent on Sunday from Thursday s 8.294 percent, with the market liquid as a batch of central bank certificates of deposit matured, traders said. On Sunday, LE 7 billion ($1.2 billion) worth of 6-day central bank certificates matured. The central bank auctioned …

Cement expected to average LE 325-330 per ton by the end of 2006 CAIRO: A LE 25 single-day increase in cement price by The National Cement Company (NCC) last week might have angered some property developers enough to organize a public protest in front of company headquarters near Helwan, but analysts say prices should continue …