CAIRO: As global trade representatives met head-on in Hong Kong to negotiate the reduction of tariffs and agricultural subsidies, Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieddin and Deutsche Bank Chief Economist Norbert Walter presented their views on whether Egypt can prosper in the world trade blocs of Europe, Asia and America. Speaking at a conference on Sunday …

CAIRO: The Central Bank of Egypt has given four banks permission to undertake due diligence checks on United Bank of Egypt (UBE) as the prelude to a possible takeover, a UBE official said on Monday. The banks are Lebanon s Bank Audi, Suez Canal Bank, Egyptian Gulf Bank and Egyptian Commercial Bank, said the official, …

CAIRO: Prime Securities cut its target price for Egyptian American Bank (EAB) to LE 62 a share from LE 64 pounds after the bank released results for the first nine months of the year. It gave EAB shares an “Accumulate recommendation because of the gap between the target and the market price. EAB shares last …

CAIRO: Share prices increased Sunday after last week’s significant volatility, associated with the start of trading in Telecom Egypt (TE) shares. The CASE 30 index, which tracks the top thirty stocks on the Cairo and Alexandria stock exchanges, gained 1.41 percent Sunday closing at 6050.19 points. The market experienced a general decline prior to the …

CAIRO: Royal Dutch Shell said on Sunday it had found up to 1 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas so far in a deepwater concession in Egypt, but a rig shortage has delayed further exploration drilling to mid-2006 Shell wants to find enough gas in its North East Mediterranean Deepwater (NEMED) concession to build its …

CAIRO: Egypt s trade with Israel is expected to rise 130 percent this year, according to the latest figures, the result of a U.S.-brokered agreement that has created an estimated 15,000 Egyptian jobs, an indication of how better relations can produce economic growth. Israeli investment in Egypt, by contrast, remains stagnant, largely because of lingering …

CAIRO: Some 240 participants from Israel and Egypt gathered yesterday at the second conference on Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) at the Semiramis InterContinental Hotel. The QIZ concept was established a year ago under a trilateral agreement between the United States,Egypt and Israel. The agreement grants Egyptian products from pre-approved zones tariff-free entry to the U.S. …

CAIRO: Recognizing the excellence of its contact center services, Coca Cola Egypt has contracted Raya Contact Center to manage its customer care program as part of its ongoing efforts to serve its clients. Raya Contact Center offers Coca Cola Egypt a wide array of services including order taking, complaints handling, service requests handling, general and …

CAIRO: With oil prices skyrocketing across the world, and with the Middle East region hosting an abundance of the product, many are growing interested in learning more about the oil business. “Going on a rig and seeing how things are, how they extract oil from the ground, got me really excited, so I decided this …

CAIRO: France’s Calyon and Britain’s HSBC have submitted bids for Egyptian American Bank (EAB), which has been put up for sale by its main shareholders, an EAB executive said on Sunday. An earlier statement from EAB had said it received two international bids for the purchase of up 100 percent of EAB, but did not …

CAIRO: Money left over from an IPO of Telecom Egypt shares pushed up stocks popular with retail investors Sunday, but big-cap declines pulled down the benchmark Hermes index, brokers said. Arab Cotton Ginning and investment bank EFG-Hermes benefited from the returning cash, which investors had set aside for the heavily oversubscribed IPO, which ended Wednesday. …

CAIRO: With the government aiming to increase the annual number of tourists from 8 million to 15 million by 2011,Minister of Tourism Ahmed El- Maghrabi met with experts and EgyptAir officials to consider what changes to the government’s aviation policy are necessary to cope with the anticipated increase in travelers. Speaking at the Egyptian Center …

CAIRO: Raya Telecom signed an agreement, Saturday, with Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) to launch a new service, AsiaConnect. With the outsourced International Virtual Private Network (VPN) using the latest telecommunications technology, Multi Protocol Labels Switching (MPLS),companies operating in Egypt will be able to directly exchange data securely with their offices in Asia for the first …

CAIRO: Oracle, the world’s largest enterprise software company, has officially opened its Global Product Support center based within Egypt’s Xceed contact center, the largest of its kind in the southern Mediterranean region. The facility, one of only eight Global Product Support centers across the world, will provide support services to Oracle customers around the globe …

CAIRO: Speaking at the second of a series of bank-related meetings this week organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, Cairo University Professor and former Dean of its Faculty of Law, Samir El Sharkawy, said that the new check law will have benefits for banks and businesses despite a critical flaw in the …

CAIRO: With Commercial International Bank’s (CIB) due diligence period for its acquisition of National Bank for Development (NBD) under way, executives from both banks discussed success factors and pitfalls related to bank mergers and acquisitions. CIB Chairman and Managing Director Hisham Ezz El Arab and NBD Chairman and Managing Director Aly Shaker shared their views …

The CASE 30 Index, which tracks the top 30 stocks on the Cairo and Alexandria exchanges, closed at 5,603 points yesterday, a 53 point increase from the previous day. Stock prices have been volatile and declining over the past month due to uncertainty regarding the Telecom Egypt initial public offering (IPO).The market had continued to …

Foreign Trade and Industry Minister, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, is visiting Washington with a large government delegation for consultations on trade negotiations. Rachid met yesterday with U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to discuss a possible free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries. This followed Rachid’s meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on Wednesday. …

CAIRO:Tom Walter has a tough job doing business in Egypt.He is chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Egypt, the local subsidiary of one of the leading global marketers of fuels and lubricants. In this country, the market remains over-regulated, heavily distorted by state subsidies and sees only modest growth. But this environment makes his advice …

When it comes to telecommunications, we have very aggressive plans CAIRO: The Egypt Invest 2005 forum embarked yesterday on sessions discussing efforts undertaken by the government, hand-in-hand with the private sector, to improve the climate for trade and investment. One of the sectors on the agenda is that of information technology (IT) and telecommunications. Most …

The Minister of Petroleum is really the key to this success CAIRO: With oil prices rising sharply worldwide, energy consumers are warming to the idea of natural gas as an alternative energy source. This change in direction has created greater opportunities in the natural gas market; a situation ideal for Egypt, which in recent years …