CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound rose slightly to 8.3 percent on Tuesday from Sunday s 8.247 percent with banks seeking to place funds in a central bank auction. Bankers said they expected rates to be better for the seven-day certificates of deposits offered by the central bank than on the interbank …

CAIRO: The theory of comparative advantage is entrenched in modern economic dogma. Countries specialize in the few goods that they can produce more efficiently relative to other goods and procure their remaining needs from other nations. While critics of globalization may dispute the social and political implications of the idea, few will deny its material …

LONDON: If recent history is anything to go by, then this week s bombings in Egypt will not deter investors who stuck with its resurgent economy after even bloodier attacks on the Sharm El-Sheikh resort in July 2005. An economic reform program launched by the government in 2004 has been applauded by analysts for bringing …

CAIRO: The deadly blasts in Dahab are bound to cause short-term damage to Egypt s vital tourism industry, but it has bounced back from previous strikes. Health and security officials said 24 people were killed in the triple bombings on Monday night, in a fresh blow for the sector which is Egypt s top money-spinner. …

CAIRO: The bourse opened strongly on Wednesday as investors shrugged off bomb attacks in the coastal resort of Dahab two days ago, but two mid-session bombings in north Sinai wiped early gains, traders said. The latest attacks hit stocks across the board, but traders said the market lost relatively little ground. Orascom Hotels and Development, …

CAIRO: Egypt’s privatization program and concerns as to whether it lessens the unemployment figures is once again in the spotlight. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieddin reiterated the benefits of the program for job creation, on two separate occasions. In an interview with Al Ahram on Monday, Nazif said that Egypt’s …

CAIRO: Minister of Trade and Industry Rashid Mohammed Rashid announced on Monday that the ministry has begun implementing a plan created by the government to promote industry and trade in various governorates in the hopes of creating greater job opportunities. According to the Al Ahram newspaper, by using the natural resources, mineral resources, in addition …

CAIRO: The People s Assembly gave its in-principle approval earlier this week for a draft consumer protection law. The approval is the first step toward passing the law and legislators have been debating the clauses for several days. Hesham Ragab, deputy minister for legal and legislative affairs at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, tells …

CAIRO: The stock market continued its downward trend yesterday after an apparent lull on Monday. The CASE 30 index, which tracks the top 30 stocks on the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges, dropped by 2.59 percent, closing at 6,345.56 points on Tuesday. The index has been on the decline for five consecutive days of trading …

CAIRO: The median overnight rate on the pound was 8.25 percent on Tuesday, little changed from Monday s 8.288 percent, bankers said. They were awaiting the result of a central bank auction on Tuesday of 14-day certificates of deposit worth LE 7.6 billion ($1.3 billion). The central bank sets a corridor for overnight interbank rates …

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak met with the president and CEO of Cisco Systems Inc., one of the most widely recognized telecommunications and information technology companies worldwide, to discuss how information technology can aid in revolutionizing the educational system in Egypt. They were accompanied by the Minister of Communication and Information Technology Tarek Kamel, and the …

CAIRO: Orascom Telecom Chairman Naguib Sawiris is increasing his company s stake in Hutchison Whampoa s emerging markets phone unit, he told Reuters in an interview on Sunday. Sawiris said OT had a right to raise its stake by 3.7 percent as part of last December s $1.3 billion deal in which OT bought 19.3 …

CAIRO: Natural gas is an increasingly popular source of energy. It is a cleaner alternative to oil and can be used to generate electricity more efficiently. Its transport, however, is complicated as it requires either the construction of costly pipelines or the condensation of gas into a liquid form prior to storage and shipment. The …

CAIRO: Banque du Caire has signed a LE 200 million agreement with Trans Gas Company to finance delivering natural gas to the Kafr Al Sheikh governorate in Egypt. Within the last year, the Kafr El Sheikh governorate has become home to some of the biggest natural gas and oil projects in the country, and is …

CAIRO: Arab countries have a reputation of cooperating better with the outside world than amongst themselves. The statistics are telling on the trade front; intra-Arab trade accounts for some 8 percent of the total international trade of the Arab world. This illustrates both the challenge and the opportunity for closer commercial ties. Enter the Arab …

CAIRO: The benchmark Hermes index fell nearly 5 percent in the first half hour of trade on Sunday, in line with declining Gulf bourses and amid jitters over sectarian clashes in Alexandria, traders said. The slump follows recent sell-offs in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the Arab world s largest bourses. Saudi shares are falling on …

KUWAIT: Under the auspices of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, the Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) will sponsor the second Kuwait Week in Egypt conference in Cairo from April 17-19. With Kuwait ranked as one of the largest Arab investors in Egypt, representing 25 percent of total Arab investments, the conference will take a closer look at …

CAIRO: Trading shares is an intricate process. Between the buyer and seller are at least three intermediaries: the broker, the stock exchange and the depository. Each intermediary fulfills its role through a combination of phone calls, faxes and electronic communication. The procedure as a whole is partly automated with computers and digital networks, but substantial …

CAIRO: Egypt s Naeem Holding has joined Qatar Telecom and Singapore s ST Telemedia in a consortium to bid for Egypt s third mobile license, Naeem and Qtel said in a statement published on Thursday. Qtel has a majority stake in the consortium, said the statement, and published in full in the state newspaper Al …

CAIRO: Public sector shareholders in Egypt s Alexandria Mineral Oils Company (AMOC) plan to sell shares worth half the firm s capital, the firm told the Egyptian bourse in a statement on Thursday. Bidders for the 43,050,000 shares on offer will also be committed to purchasing all shares offered for sale by private sector shareholders, …

CAIRO: Having recently published its voluntary guidelines for corporate governance, the Egyptian Institute of Directors (EIoD) will begin a training program for corporate board members next month in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation. The training course includes 24 modules covering methods for implementing the guidelines and leads to a certification for directors. Corporate governance …

CAIRO: An Indian-Egyptian company has won the 2005 Investor of the Year Award, given out by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), for selecting Egypt as the location for a multi-million dollar investment project. Indo Egyptian Fertilizer Company, which was launched as a result of a joint venture between Indian Fertilizer Company, Indian …

LONDON: Britain s Melrose Resources Plc said on Thursday it was buying partner Merlon Petroleum Company for $265 million in cash to gain full control of the pair s oil and gas discoveries in Egypt, boosting its shares. Melrose s shares rose as much as 16 percent to 403 pence. We believe that this deal …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound rose to 8.25 percent on Thursday from 8.194 percent on Wednesday, as a central bank auction drew liquidity from the market, traders said. The auction of Central Bank of Egypt Notes worth LE 3 ($521 million) was not covered by maturing funds, the traders said. …

CAIRO: Thanks to a national campaign launched to garner awareness of the new tax law, Egyptians are beginning to pay their taxes, according to Minister of Finance Yousef Boutrous Ghali. During a press conference held at the ministry yesterday, the minister presented the results of the first phase of the advertising campaign, which was launched …

CAIRO: A new blue-chip index for top-performing Egyptian stocks has been established by Dow Jones Indexes. The creator of the renowned Dow Jones Industrial Average unveiled its latest index yesterday. The Dow Jones CASE Titans 20 Index will track the 20 leading companies on the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges (CASE) based on a common …

CAIRO: The Egyptian General Authority for Industrial Development (GAID) has approved a proposal by Qena Cement Company to build a new cement plant in Aswan with an investment worth LE 570 million. The authority has allocated one million square meters for the construction of the plant. Misr Cement Company (Qena), founded in 1997 by the …

CAIRO: Executives of the four prominent Italian fashion houses Valentino, Marzotto, Ferragamo and Ermenegildo Zegna, visited Egypt yesterday to investigate the possibility of manufacturing their brands with local producers. A cautious Michele Norsa, Valentino s chief executive officer, described his company s plans to produce over 100,000 suits annually in Egypt at a press conference …

ATHENS: Piraeus Bank, Greece s fifth largest lender, on Tuesday dismissed a press report that it is planning a large rights issue to fund the acquisition of banks in Egypt and Greece. At this moment, there is no deal or negotiations to buy a bank in Greece or in Egypt, as the press report claims. …

CAIRO: A cut in the central bank s overnight lending and deposit rates pulled the median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian down to 8.1 percent on Sunday from Thursday s 8.456 percent, bankers said. The central bank s monetary policy committee last week cut the bank s overnight deposit and lending rates by 25 …