PARIS: French wireless operator Orange said Friday it has signed a deal with Apple Inc. to sell its iPhone in the Middle East, Africa and several European countries. France Telecom s Orange said in a one-sentence statement that it will sell the handset in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, …

Had you wanted to register a new company or commercial project in Egypt a few years ago, you would have gone through a bureaucratic nonstop paper chase from one government entity to another that took up to a year. Register a company today, and you will experience a straightforward process that can be completed in …

CAIRO: The Egyptian economy grew at an annualized rate of 7.5 percent in the first quarter of 2008, compared to 7.4 percent in the same period last year and 8.1 percent in the last quarter of 2007, the Cabinet said in a press statement. The Cabinet said the current rate of growth in gross domestic …

CAIRO: Since the last World Economic Forum on the Middle East in Sharm El-Sheihk took place in 2006, the telecommunications sector has expanded faster than any other industry in the nation, with investments pouring into enhancing the IT infrastructure. According to figures from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), foreign direct investment in …

CAIRO: Egypt wants to host your factory. This message resounds clearly enough throughout the heaps of state pamphlets and press releases published in the past year, most heralding industry as Egypt’s future and expounding detailed cases for the quarter’s recent boom. Egypt’s industrial sector grew at 7.6 percent last year, half a percent more than …

My job is to care for consumers and make sure they are not abused by the dominant positions of a few business players subjecting them to unreasonable prices or the unavailability of certain products and services, said Mona Yassin, chairperson of the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA), in an interview with Daily News Egypt. In light …

CAIRO: Against a global background of house price slumps and the great Western recession, those ubiquitous vistas of real estate projects that dominate the Egyptian horizon might now seem in jeopardy. There are fears asunder that Egypt’s property bubble may be about to burst into a kaboom of bricks and mortar. However, Ahmed Sabbour, managing …

Complementing the boom in the real estate sector, the construction domain has also experienced a notable surge; however, the continuity of this upward trend remains in question by many analysts. With the revival of Egypt’s real estate market in 2002, the demand for construction materials has accelerated. This is happening in spite of the skyrocketing …

CAIRO: In his jeans and modest T-shirt, Ayman, 23, is listening attentively together with his colleagues to their instructor. Around 25 men in their 20s are seated in the neat, white-painted room, getting ready for the practical part of the session. The young men are attending a training session on cooling and air-conditioning systems as …

Since 2004, Egypt has been one of the Middle East’s fastest growing economies. The International Monetary Fund’s annual economic health check attributed the impressive economic growth to a winning combination of liberalization and a favorable external environment. Also, the IMF’s most recent review of Egypt’s economy highlighted the fact that the effect of economic growth …

DUBAI: BT announced that it has signed an agreement with Thomson Reuters to manage the wide area network (WAN) element of its internal IT infrastructure in an eight year outsourcing deal, the company said in a press statement. BT will transform Thomson Reuters’ existing WAN into a high-speed, IP based global infrastructure that will encompass …

CAIRO: With the aim of putting the past behind and shedding light on the region’s future, the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East will open Sunday in Sharm El-Sheikh, where hundreds of global policymakers and business leaders gather to explore forces that will shape the region in the coming years. “This year’s meeting …

CAIRO: The Egyptian economy grew at an annualized rate of 7.5 percent in the first quarter of 2008, compared to 7.4 percent in the same period last year and 8.1 percent in the last quarter of 2007, the Cabinet said in a press statement. The Cabinet said the current rate of growth in gross domestic …

Orascom seeks companies in Asia, Africa Reuters reported that Orascom Telecom (OT) set up a subsidiary to look for investment opportunities in small to medium-sized enterprises operating mobile phone networks in Asia and Africa. The subsidiary, Telecel Globe, has not acquired any licenses yet, OT said in a statement filed to the Cairo and Alexandria …

CAIRO: The head of the world telecoms body said on Tuesday that oppressive regimes are increasingly using their control over the internet to deprive citizens of information but that those governments are being watched as well. Access to information is a basic human right, said International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary General Hamadoun Toure, in Cairo …

Dubai Group sells stake to OrascomDubai Group, the financial services company of Dubai Holding, said it sold its 15 percent stake in Egyptian Fertilizers Company to Orascom Construction and Industries for AED 720 million, realizing an internal rate of return of 105 percent, Emirates Business reported. The stake was bought in early 2007 through Dubai …

CAIRO: From Kigali to Tomorrow , a special session held yesterday on the Connect Africa Summit reviewed progress made since key partners from government and industry met in Kigali, Rwanda last October and looked to the roll out of investments to meet connectivity targets in Africa. In October 2007, ITU organized the Connect Africa Summit, …

CAIRO: Egypt s bourse slid Wednesday for the seventh straight session led by construction and banking stocks, which were still reeling from the government move to cut tax breaks on energy-intensive firms and hike energy prices. “The government’s decision to cut tax breaks [for energy-intensive firms in free zones] has helped drag down the market …

MAPUTO: Africa s economy will grow by 6 percent this year and next, an acceleration from 2007, owing to high oil prices and demand for commodities, research from the African Development Bank (AfDB) showed Monday. The joint research by the AfDB, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the UN Economic Commission for Africa …

CAIRO: Egypt’s new property tax law proposal sparked controversy Monday among members of the Shoura Council. Those who support it say the proposal adheres to social solidarity, while the opposing side says it will put a strain on a majority of Egyptians. “The purpose of the proposed law is to take the tax from affluent …

Palm Hills posts Q1 profit of $37 mln Palm Hills Development, which began trading on Egypt s stock exchange on Thursday, posted a first-quarter pretax profit of LE 199 million ($37 million) on Monday, Reuters reported. The company, a high-end Egyptian real estate developer, said it had an increasing number of contracted units, with total …

ABU DHABI: Visitors to the Etisalat stand at the CityScape Abu Dhabi exhibition will have the chance to experience a simulated “Smart Home environment, which supports and controls everything from entertainment options such as music, television or movies, to basic comforts such as lighting and window shades. Using a touch controlled central command center, you …

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak inaugurated Telecom Africa 2008, which opened to the public Monday in Cairo, according to a statement released to the press A showcase for the latest in information and communication technologies (ICT), which includes an industry exhibition, ITU Telecom Africa is a platform for brainstorming and networking for both governments and the …

MAPUTO: The African Development Bank warned Sunday that the near doubling of prices of some staple food crops in recent months had serious implications for Africa, particularly the poorest nations. In a report titled Africa Economic Outlook, launched Sunday ahead of a two-day African Development Bank annual summit this week, the institution noted the urgent …

JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will attend the World Economic Forum on the Middle East at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, a senior official said on Sunday. US President George W. Bush, after his three-day visit to Israel, is scheduled to deliver remarks at the forum next Sunday. Livni was …

CAIRO: Government bonds could lose their tax-exempt status as part of a revised budget law scheduled to go into effect this July, said Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros-Ghali at a press conference Sunday. Treasury bills, with shorter maturity periods than bonds and which were formerly tax-free, are now taxed as part of a package of …

CAIRO: The Central Bank of Egypt raised Friday its key overnight interest rates for the third time this year to combat rising inflation, particularly after the government’s decision last week to hike prices of gasoline and cigarettes, among other things. The bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) lifted its overnight deposit rate by 50 basis points …

Egypt expands food rations to extra 17 mln Egypt will add at least 17 million people to the ranks of ration card holders to ease the effect of rising food prices and will double the amount of rice handed out, a minister said yesterday. The number of people eligible for subsidized food rations will climb …

SYDNEY: Australia will resume live cattle exports to Egypt after a two-year halt due to alleged cruel treatment of the animals. Agriculture Minister Tony Burke, who planned to announce the agreement later Friday, told Fairfax newspapers that resumption of exports will be subject to strict conditions, including the cattle being handled according to international standards …