CAIRO: The M.A. Kharafi Group of Kuwait, the developer, financier and concessionaire of the Marsa Alam International Airport, the international gateway airport to Egypt’s South Red Sea Marsa Alam Coast, has announced that they are undertaking a major expansion of the airport that will double the terminal size, increase the runway length to handle larger …

Valerie Morris stresses the importance of mentoring CAIRO: You must reach back in order to move forward, is advice Valerie Morris first heard from her mother at an early age. In order to do well for yourself, you must do it for other people, she had told her. Fighting back tears as she remembers her …

CAIRO: Having established its printing services with a number of large clients, Xerox plans to expand its range of document solutions in Egypt. Xerox currently serves several local companies that have a sizeable customer base and a need to communicate with those customers through customized documents such as bills, statements and pay slips. Documents that …

CAIRO: China s demands for a testimony from Egypt that the Asian giant has a fully free market economy have fueled widespread controversy among Egyptian businesspeople and business groups. Head of the Egyptian Federation of Industries Galal Al-Zorba called on the government to reject these demands on the background of Chinese unfair competition and dumping …

CAIRO: Egypt s state-owned Banque du Caire will sell by auction the state s 82 percent stake in Suez Steel, the Investment Ministry said in an announcement in Al Ahram newspaper on Monday. The offer is open to strategic investors or groups of investors, who will have to declare an interest in the stake by …

CAIRO: Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Sunday denied his country was seeking to become a counterbalance to the United States by boosting ties with Africa as he kicked off a tour of the continent. He said his booming economy was in need of Africa s natural resources but hit back at accusations that Beijing …

CAIRO: The Egyptian Company for Touristic Resorts has struck a deal with Al Shahin Group for Investments, a Jordanian company, to sell 1.5 million square meters of Sahl Hashish on which the group intends to build a resort with a marina for a total investment cost of $300 million. Recently, the Egyptian government has been …

DAMIETTA: Italy s Eni has rejected a proposal by the country s watchdog to have it sell its stake in Snam Rete Gas or Stogit, saying it would risk losing its leadership in the European gas market. Italy s energy regulator has suggested oil and gas producer Eni sell Snam Rete Gas, which operates the …

CAIRO: Egypt s main wheat importer bought 230,000 tons of U.S. and Canadian wheat on Saturday for shipment between July 16 and 31, a company official said. Sayed El-Hefny, vice-chairman of the government s General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), gave the following breakdown of the purchases (all prices FOB): — 55,000 tons of eastern …

Education NGO decries private lessons ALEXANDRIA: Everyone adopts habits in their early years that shape their personality and that they carry with them for the rest of their lives. A child s environment at school and at home, where many of these habits are formed, may foretell their future capacity in the workplace and interaction …

Agence France-Presse CAIRO: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao kicks off a tour of Africa in Egypt on Saturday, celebrating Sino-African political ties in the nation where they began, before resuming the hunt for mineral wealth in six other countries. On May 30, 1956, Egypt became the first African state to establish diplomatic relations with the People …

Reuters WASHINGTON: Four major international exporters of liquefied natural gas met with U.S. utility and industry executives on Wednesday to discuss future supply. Government officials from Nigeria, Algeria, Qatar and Egypt met with executives from about 30 U.S. companies in the closed-door session organized by former U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham s consulting shop. Both …

CAIRO: General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) Chairman Ziad Bahaa El-Din suggests closer ties between the authority and business associations in resolving private sector disputes with the government. It allows us to move from the state of mind of dealing with individual issues and individual problems towards dealing with collective problems, says Bahaa …

EU Ambassador says the ball is in the Egyptian court CAIRO: The European Union and Egypt have failed to reach agreement on the final text of an action plan for the union s Neighborhood Policy during Tuesday s meeting between Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Abul Gheit and his European counterpart, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, in Luxembourg. …

CAIRO: The Egyptian government has indefinitely postponed the privatization of Egypt Aluminum, the investment minister was quoted as saying in remarks published on Tuesday. Mahmoud Mohieddin on Monday told a parliamentary committee of the postponement until an unspecified time, Al-Ahram newspaper reported. It did not explain the postponement, which was part of a government program …

CAIRO: The partial privatization of national carrier EgyptAir will take the form of a capital increase to raise money for new planes, Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq said on Tuesday. Shafiq told reporters that one preparatory study for the privatization was almost complete but a second study by an international bank would also be needed. …

CAIRO: Google Inc., the company that runs and owns the world’s largest search engine, announced yesterday the launch of Google News in Arabic. Google News in Arabic will enable users to view the latest news headlines and related photos, as well as search and browse 500 Arabic news sources in the Middle East. According to …

CAIRO: One of the most staggering features of Cairo s retail landscape is its multitude of pharmacies. Pick any random street corner and there s a good chance that you re a five minute walk away from two or three drug stores. This is a reflection of the nation s substantial consumption of medication. Expenditure …

Company s visiting female delegation notes the importance of engaging women CAIRO: Fifteen computers are now available at the Dar El Tarbia Center, to be made use of by the youths residing there and employees. The Microsoft project that was inaugurated this week aims at enabling the first trainees to start training their counterparts in …

CAIRO: The Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) has allocated LE 472.5 million (about $82 million) for investments in its new budget for fiscal year 2006-2007, valued at about LE 556.5 million ($96.57 million). By allocating this amount for investment, the company is targeting to boost up exports of petrochemical products to $1.6 billion by the …

CAIRO: Egyptian stocks slipped for a third session in a row on Monday, with selling by pessimistic small investors concerned more with charts than fundamentals weighing across the market, traders said. The benchmark Hermes index ended 2.6 percent lower at 45,092.70 points, 35 percent off its Jan. 23 record of 69,830.78. The Case 30 index …

CAIRO: The median overnight rate on the pound was 8.2 percent on Monday, little changed from Sunday s 8.186 percent, bankers said. Three of nine banks contacted by Reuters had dealt overnight at rates of 8.15 to 8.3 percent. The range was 8.1 to 8.2 percent on Sunday. The central bank offers 8 percent on …

CAIRO: The world-renowned Superbrands Organization, an independent arbiter on branding, has named El Gouna as Egypt’s 2006 Superbrand. Branding has become the single most important tool when it comes to the success or failure of brands. “The most important asset with which a company can control and shape its destiny lies in the strength of …

ISMAILIYA: Egypt s income from Suez Canal transit fees reached a record $324.6 million in May, the canal authority said Sunday. A total of 1,563 ships crossed the canal in May, up from 1,466 for the same period last year, generating an extra $42 million dollars, a canal official said. The tonnage soared by eight …

CAIRO: Cairo Poultry Company is behaving strangely for a business in the midst of one of its industry s worst crises. As chicken retailers and even some producers have struggled to survive since the outbreak of avian flu in February, Cairo Poultry has increased its capital, paid out dividends and recently announced plans to build …

CAIRO: The board of directors of Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) announced today that 9 out of 11 bids for the country’s third mobile license have passed the technical evaluation. The two bidders that have been disqualified were both made up of consortiums. Emac for Information Systems, a company affiliated with Kuwait’s Kharafi Group, …

Grass-root organizations supported by the U.S. government review their progress ALEXANDRIA: About 30 members of NGOs and political movements from throughout the region gathered in Egypt this week to exchange their experiences and attend seminars arranged by the American government s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) on issues relevant to civil societies All participants belong …

Course addresses growing need for Islamic skills CAIRO: Over the past 40 years, Islamic banking has grown from a niche business to a promising alternative to mainstream banking. Today, multi-billion dollar deals are made Sharia-compliant to tap into an estimated supply of some $500 billion in funds seeking consistency with Islamic principles. In order to …

Standoff threatens new Egyptian LNG project CAIRO: Israeli authorities have held up the development of an offshore natural gas field in Palestinian territory by not responding to a routine request for a survey from the field s operator, British Gas (BG). The delay is the latest development in a five-year saga of the field known …

Seventeen international oil companies have obtained documents of the fourth tender launched by the Egyptian Ganoub El Wadi Holding Petroleum Company (Ganope) earlier this year, said Hassan Akl, chairman of Ganope, on Tuesday. Akl pointed out that when the areas under the recent tender are assigned, about 50 percent of Ganope’s work area will have …