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| ROUND UP: The month at a glance |
EGYPT, MOROCCO COOPERATE ON TOURISM:
An initial contract has been signed between Egyptian and Moroccan
investors to set up a joint tourism investment project, Al Hayat
reported on March 27. A $100 million hotel and leisure-city complex
is the contract’s main focus. The final contract is to be signed
at a later date in the presence of President Hosni Mubarak and Morocco’s
King Mohammed VI.
BP ANNOUNCES NEW INVESTMENTS:
Over the coming three years, British Petroleum will invest $1 billion
in Egypt’s petroleum sector, Al-Ahram reported on April 18.
Investments will focus on the development of deep-water fields,
petroleum and gas exploration, and gas-liquefaction projects.
OCI SIGNS ALGERIAN FACTORY DEAL:
Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) announced at the end of March
that the Algerian Cement Company, a subsidiary, had signed an engineering,
procurement and construction contract valued at $176 million with
a consortium consisting of F.L. Smidth of Denmark and OCI Algeria
to build a cement factory in Algeria.
OLYMPIC SUBSIDIARIES TO MERGE:
In a general assembly meeting at the beginning of April, Olympic
Group Financial Industries approved the merger of its two subsidiaries,
Cairo Precision Industries and IDEAL. The assembly agreed to the
distribution of £E 3.91 per share for Cairo Precision Industries
and £E 2.00 per share for IDEAL, in addition to a 25-percent
stock dividend.
PAINT COMPANY AIMS TO SPREAD:
According to Al Alam Al Youm of March 28, PACHIN is currently studying
the possibility of acquiring a majority stake in a local paint company.
At the same time, PACHIN is looking to international paint companies
to form a strategic alliance and increase its local market share.
LARGEST NATIONAL BUDGET YET:
At an April 10 press conference, Medhat Hassanein, minister of finance,
announced the details of Egypt’s biggest-ever national budget,
chalked up at £E 141.6 billion in spending and £E 111.4
billion in revenues. Pension funds from the National Investment
Bank will finance part of the budget.
TRADE-BALANCE PROGRESS WITH U.K.:
Egypt’s exports to Britain increased from £270 million
($391.9 million) in 1997 to £420 million ($609.6 million)
in 2001, according to Britain’s national statistics office.
For the same period, imports from Britain to Egypt dropped 9 percent,
Al-Ahram reported on April 18.
SHARM FUNDS TAKE SHAPE:
World Bank and African Development Bank officials came to Egypt
at the start of April to implement decisions made during last February’s
Sharm Al Sheikh donor conference. The financial institutions are
set to provide Egypt with $500 million to implement reform policies
decided at the conference.
GRAIN STORAGE GETS UPGRADE:
As part of a national project to construct 50 grain silos, the Islamic
Development Bank and National Investment Bank will construct 20
silos in 20 different governorates, Al-Ahram reported on April 12.
The 20 metal silos, each with a 30,000-ton capacity, will cost some
$104 million each.
FREE ZONES BOOST EXPORTS, JOBS:
Director of the General Authority for Investment & Free Zones
Mohamed Al Ghamrawy announced that Egypt’s total number of
free-zone projects reached 817 as of the start of this year. These
projects have generated 75,000 jobs, with exports from the zones
reaching $975 million in 2001, local newspapers reported at the
beginning of April.
CEMENT PROFITS SHRIVEL:
Profits for Suez Cement plunged 43 percent in 2001, totaling £E
166 million compared to £E 290 million for 2000. A drop in
overall sales as well as a large drop in income from subsidiaries
contributed to the losses
PROTECTION FROM ARAB DUMPING:
In early April, Minister of Foreign Trade Youssef Boutros-Ghali
announced his decision to apply a 150-percent tariff on Syrian textiles
for one year, in order to prevent dumping of such goods in the Egyptian
market.
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