CAIRO: Telecom Egypt (TE) awarded Alcatel-Lucent a contract for the assessment, reengineering, and modernization of its operations and maintenance processes – the deal is the first of its kind in the Middle East. Alcatel-Lucent will help TE enhance the overall efficiency of its operations and maintenance organization. The companies will work together to improve TE …

CAIRO: Damac launched yesterday Hyde Park, its latest development project in Egypt. Reservations are set to start today. Located in New Cairo District over 4.7 million square meters, Hyde Park is the first phase of a bigger residential project in New Cairo, spanning over 6.3 million square meters with an estimate investment value of LE …

CAIRO: “It’s safe, we can start now, whispered Zakaria on the phone before he started the engine of his tuk-tuk. For the past few months, the 16-year-old has been earning his living driving passengers around in his three-wheel vehicle, weaving through Imbaba’s main streets and intricate network of alleys. But now tuk-tuk drivers like Zakaraia …

CAIRO: The idea behind CSR is that companies carefully consider the impact their operations have on the environment and people – including employees, customers and the local community. As the business corporation grew exponentially in the post-war period, its ability to generate great wealth and, simultaneously, great suffering became increasingly apparent, particularly in less developed …

BEIRUT: Lebanon s largest construction firm, Solidere, will take part in a $4 billion project in Egypt to develop two areas outside Cairo, the company said in a statement released Monday. Solidere, which is known for rebuilding Beirut s downtown that was destroyed during the 1975-90 civil, will partner with Egypt s Sodic in developing …

CAIRO: Orascom Construction Industries announced Monday an agreement with Lafarge for the proposed divestment of the OCI Cement Group for a total of $12.9 billion plus the assumption by Lafarge of a $2 billion debt, according to a press statement. OCI shares initially rose almost 10 percent, but closed down by 4.4 percent. Egypt’s benchmark …

CAIRO: When resolving legal disputes, most companies prefer to avoid high-profile court cases, for the sake of both their image and their finances. Why have your name dragged through the mud – whether you were at fault or not – when you can resolve your problems behind closed doors? You could even come to an …

CAIRO: The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) held its fourth annual Career Development Center (CDC) Dec. 8-9 at the InterContinental CityStars hotel. The CDC is a professional development workshop for businesspeople in the area of middle management. Two of the marketing world’s leading researchers, Dr Michael Soliman and Barbara Glanz, were brought to Cairo to …

AIN SOKHNA: In the labyrinthine world of politics, ever more complicated by the global phenomenon of the “businessman-politician it’s not always easy to separate the wheat from the chaff. Nothing is simpler than lumping the usual suspects together – politicians with powerful party affiliations, who double as businessmen, running huge conglomerates, and developing mega-projects that …

CAIRO: In line with market expectations, Egypt s consumer price index (CPI) eased to 6.9 percent year-on-year in November from 7.5 percent in October, however, inflationary pressures continue to loom until year-end. “While we believe that the gradual decline of the CPI is a positive development, inflation will remain high, in our opinion, in the …

CAIRO: The telecommunications sector is expanding faster than any other industry in the nation, but there are still many unexplored opportunities that should be addressed. “The real boom is coming from the telecom side. In the mid-90s when we looked at the business plans of the first operations in Egypt, people were expecting 500,000 users …

CAIRO: Egypt’s bourse recorded an all-time high on Tuesday, hitting the 10,000-point threshold for the first time before closing the session at 9,998.24 points. The Case30 Index rose 1.4 percent on a strong turnover of LE 1,524 million ($275.7 million), mainly lifted by blue chips. “There is general optimism and enthusiasm in our market, and …

CAIRO: “The Red Sea has become an [integral] component of Egyptian tourism, a new sub-sector that has developed on the oasis to become bigger – in terms of number of arrivals – than other traditional [tourist sites], Farid Saad, chairman of Abu Soma Development Company, told Daily News Egypt. Expanding on the various benefits the …

CAIRO: Although Egypt’s economy has improved immensely over the years, some industries must expand and others must be founded for the nation to sustain its progress, Tarek Mansour, PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC)’s Country Senior Partner said. “There is a lot of foreign direct investment coming into the country from different sources, but there is no real added …

CAIRO: Egypt’s ICT investment volume is expected to reach $1.306 billion by 2011, according to British Business Monitor International’s (BMI) and Forecast Series’ last quarterly report for 2007. By 2011, the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) will be due to finalize the execution of the IT sector development plan, which aims to attract further …

CAIRO: Etisalat Egypt expects the number of subscribers to reach three million by the end of 2007, said CEO Saleh El-Abdooli at a press conference Monday. Egypt’s newest mobile phone operator is targeting 10 million subscribers within the next three years “At Etisalat, our strategy is to be distinguished from other operators present on the …

CAIRO: Being a top bank in terms of “size and profit is an extremely difficult situation to defend, but we’ve proven [over time] that we can defeat the law of numbers, Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, chairman and managing director of Commercial International Bank (CIB), told Daily News Egypt. “We have the stamina to compete in this …

CAIRO: Almost all recognized refugees work informally and are often underpaid and exploited, according to research conducted by the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Program at the American University in Cairo (AUC). The study shows that most of the time, their salaries are much lower than their Egyptian counterparts. Moreover, they are often denied payment …

CAIRO: Barclays Bank Egypt announced its results for the nine months ending September 2007, with net operating income up by 40 percent to LE 437 million, compared to LE 312 million in the same period last year. In a press statement, the bank reported that profit after taxes reached LE 186.4 million against LE 188 …

CAIRO: Orascom Telecom quit its operations in Iraq and sold its Iraqi mobile phone operator Iraqna for $1.2 billion to Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain), allowing the Egyptian operator to pull out of the war-ridden country. MTC-Atheer – Zain’s subsidiary – will pay 50 percent of the total deal value on the first anniversary of …

CAIRO: Google has restored the YouTube account belonging to Award-winning Egyptian rights activist and blogger Wael Abbas. The leading video-sharing website pulled the plug on Abbas page a few days ago following user complaints over the brutal content of his videos.When asked about Abbas case, YouTube owner Google previously told Daily News Egypt that, We …

CAIRO: In a ceremony attended by the senior managers of Center of Development and Commerce Wagih Abaza (CDC), major Iranian automobile manufacturer Iran Khodro and Automobiles Peugeot, the three automotive industry gurus celebrated the activation of the production line of Peugeot PARS TU5 in Egypt. After several years of manufacturing Peugeot 405 in Iran Khodro, …

CAIRO: Egypt and Iran have held talks on the possibility of importing wheat, the trade ministry said on Sunday, in a sign of easing tensions between the two countries. Egypt is the only Arab state with which Iran does not have normal relations. The coming period will see the beginning of a new phase in …

Kuwait-based company involved in containers project in Damietta The Kuwait News Agency reported that the international KGL transport company declared on Thursday it laid the corner stone of a new containers station in the Egyptian port of Damietta and that the facility would open in November 2008. The Kuwait-based company said in a statement that …

DUBAI: Reuters has announced that the DP World stocks listed on Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) can be traded over the Reuters Order Routing (ROR) network. DP World listed on DIFX on Monday, allowing investors to access 20 percent of the company valued at $21.6 billion. Reuters Order Routing offers a user-friendly trading solution that …

CAIRO: German airline Lufthansa announced the appointment of their new Cairo-based regional director at a press conference in the Marriott hotel earlier this week. Klaus Fussi will take over the reigns on Jan. 1 from Peter Emmerlich, who will retire after over 40 years in the aviation industry. Fussi first joined Lufthansa in 1972, and …

LONDON: The price of oil fell back below $90 on Friday as the market speculated about the chances of an increase in Opec output at the cartel s meeting next week, dealers said. They said prices also fell after it appeared more likely that an explosion on a key pipeline from Canada into the United …

CAIRO: It’s no secret that the exponential growth of the IT industry has opened the door for illegal trade and cyber crime, and that stringent measures must be taken to address the problem. There has been a drastic increase in cyber crime activities over the past few years, and a framework of rules governing the …

CAIRO: Sixth of October for Development and Investment Company (Sodic) recorded a five-fold increase in year-on-year revenues to LE 321.25 million for the first nine months of 2007. Releasing its third quarter results earlier this week, the company reported that net profits increased by more than 17 times, reaching LE 158.17 million. Gross profit is …