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IN BRIEF

Precautions taken to keep out bird flu

The government has banned all live poultry imports, discouraged bird hunting and tightened airport quarantine procedures in an effort to keep the potentially deadly bird flu out of the country. The ban follows the spread of the virus to Turkey, Romania and other parts of Europe.

So far, airport authorities quarantined over 12,000 turkey chicks imported from Germany suspected of carrying the virus, but released the shipment after lab tests proved negative. A 2.5-ton shipment of ducklings imported from France was destroyed and buried after the government imposed a full ban on importing birds on October 20.

Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a contagious viral disease that normally only affects birds and pigs. On rare occasions, however, it can cross the species barrier to infect humans, as it has already in 60 fatal cases worldwide. Scientists fear it could mutate and become a deadly flu strain passable from human to human.
The Egyptian cabinet has ordered tighter quarantine procedures at the nation’s airports, with special attention given to tourists arriving from infected countries. According to an airport official, if visitors to Egypt are suspected of carrying bird flu, they will be quarantined for a period of six days at a hospital near the airport, and allowed into the country only if shown to be free of the viral infection.

The government has also banned wild bird hunting in an effort to reduce contact between humans and migrant birds that fly through Egypt from eastern and southern Europe each winter seeking warmer temperatures further south. The ban aims at minimizing contact between humans and birds, which may be carrying the virus.

IMC program to beef up supply lines

The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry (MFTI) has launched a new initiative to address problems associated with the supply chains of Egyptian industries. The National Suppliers Development Program (NSDP), first implemented with car maker General Motors Egypt, aims to expand the capacity and upgrade the quality of suppliers working with 100 of the largest multinational and local companies in Egypt.

The program, carried out in cooperation with the EU-funded Industrial Modernization Center (IMC), allows participating companies to nominate between five and 20 of its suppliers to receive grants for technical assistance to upgrade their production lines. Selected suppliers will receive LE 1 million worth of assistance starting with a performance assessment to identify specific ways in which their production process can be made more efficient and improve the quality of their output. Suppliers who successfully complete the program may be eligible for admission into the global supply chain of their clients.

While the funding for the NSDP is provided by the IMC, each supplier is expected to pitch in up to 15 percent of the value of the technical assistance – a way of ensuring they take the upgrade plan seriously. MFTI has struck a deal with the Commercial International Bank (CIB) to develop a loan system for these medium industries in order to allow them to participate in the program.

All industrial sectors are eligible to participate in the NSDP, which aims to enhance the local and export competitiveness of Egyptian industry. To date, 37 companies have joined on including Mercedes, Unionaire, Electrostrar, Olympic, Siemens, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Cadbury Schweppes, Nestle, Juhayna, Beyti, Enjoy, Hero, MAC and Mobica.

Metro tenders up for grabs

Eleven local and foreign consultants have until November 15 to submit their proposals for two consultancy contracts for a third metro line in Cairo. The first contract is to evaluate the technical offers for the construction of the new line, while the second is to supervise the construction. The tenders will likely be awarded in early 2006.

The Cairo metro extension project, which will connect the western districts of Cairo with the international airport, comprises five main construction and supply contracts including the civil works, signaling, rolling stock supply, electro-mechanical, and track laying packages. The 33-kilometer line is expected to take about four years to build at a cost of $1 billion.

Parliamentary elections to begin Nov. 9

Parliamentary elections will be held in three stages beginning in early November. Registered voters in the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Menoufia, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, Matrouh and the New Valley will cast their ballots during the first stage on November 9. Voters in the governorates of Alexandria, Beheira, Ismailia, Port Said, Suez, Qalioubiya, Gharbiya, Fayoum and Qena will go to the polling stations on November 14. And on December 7, voters in Dakahliya, Sharqiya, Kafr Al Sheikh, Damietta, Sohag, Aswan, Red Sea, North Sinai and South Sinai governorates will cast their ballots.

In cases where no candidate is able to secure more than 50 percent of votes, a run-off election will be held between the two candidates who received the most votes. Run-off voting will be held six days after the initial vote in each area.

Following the elections, the newly elected parliament will convene on December 13. Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party occupies more than 90 percent of the 444 seats of the current parliament, although the banned yet tolerated Muslim Brotherhood managed to win 17 seats in the previous elections by running as independents. This time round, the Muslim Brotherhood is preparing to field 150 candidates as independents.

Locusts barred entry

Ministry of Agriculture officials say locust monitoring teams will be stationed on the country’s borders, as well as at 13 bases, all of which are equipped with pesticides and other locust-fighting equipment. They insist these are only precautionary measures, and that there is no reason to expect a locust invasion. In November 2004, shifting wind patterns brought swarms of large red locusts from drought-stricken areas of western Africa to Egypt on their way to breeding areas on the Red Sea. Ministry officials insist the ravenous insects caused no damage, though farmers throughout Egypt reported heavy damage to their crops.

IAEA, ElBaradei share nobel peace prize

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its chief, Mohamed ElBaradei.

The 63-year-old Egyptian has championed the peaceful use of nuclear energy while advocating quiet diplomacy to discourage countries from using the technology for military purposes. The Nobel committee said it hoped the prize would strengthen the agency and refocus energy on nonproliferation in the wake of the UN’s failure to strengthen the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty at a conference earlier this year.

ElBaradei, the fourth Egyptian to win a Nobel Prize after Mohamed Anwar El Sadat (peace, 1978), Naguib Mahfouz (literature, 1988) and Ahmed Zeweil (chemistry, 1999), was selected from 199 nominees. The committee said ElBaradei and the nuclear agency would share the $1.3 million prize money equally.

ElBaradei studied law in Cairo before teaching international law at New York University, earning a PhD in international law from the same university. He worked at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 1960s and later represented Egypt at the United Nations, both in New York and Geneva, before joining the IAEA in 1984. Many see the award as a vindication of a man and an agency long at odds with President George W. Bush and his administration over how to confront Iraq and Iran. The Bush administration has failed in repeated attempts to remove ElBaradei from his post.

Arab air alliance to lift off in 2006

Eight regional airlines are planning to launch an Arab air alliance early next year in an effort to improve schedule coordination, strengthen their marketing power and create better connectivity. The alliance, tentatively named Arabesk, will include Gulf Air, Oman Air, Yemenia, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Egypt Air and Tunis Air, none of which are currently members of any global airline alliance.

The airlines are discussing the alliance with Sabre Airline Solutions and the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO). The alliance will initially involve code-sharing and coordinated schedules to cover the markets of the eight airlines. It may later be expanded to include other Arab airlines, as well as cooperation with non-Arab airlines.

Egypt to host 2006 World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) will hold its next session in Sharm Al-Sheikh on May 20-22. The Red Sea resort’s selection as a venue “reflects the forum’s recognition of Egypt’s long-standing commitment to working for peace and stability in the region,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade & Industry.

The forum is designed to foster dialogue between world leaders, policymakers, thinkers and business personalities to help shape the global, regional and industrial agendas around the world. Egyptian officials have expressed hope that the meeting will boost Egypt’s tourism industry while highlighting the country’s political and economic reform process.

The World Economic Forum, a Geneva-based nonprofit organization, serves as a major venue for business, political and intellectual leaders to talk about pressing issues in the world.

Qatari prince implicated in deadly car race

Prince Saud bin Salman bin Saud Al-Thani was taken into custody by authorities in Qatar on charges related to an illegal car race in Egypt that ended with five Egyptians dead and over a dozen injured. According to reports, the 18-year-old Qatari prince lost control of his 2005 Ford Mustang during the race and plowed through a crowd of spectators, killing five and injuring 17. He then fled the scene with an accomplice in another car, first to the Qatari embassy, then returning home to his country aboard a private jet.

Qatari authorities arrested the prince on October 8, more than two weeks after the fatal accident, but have so far refused Egypt’s extradition requests. The victim’s families have publicly complained that some of the injured spectators lost their lives due to the delayed response by emergency vehicles and the refusal of emergency rooms to admit victims without a £E 1,000 deposit.

$1 billion refinery planned for Al-Ain Al-Sokhna

Cairo-based Investment & Security Group (ISG) is reported to be heading a project with unnamed shareholders from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to build a large refinery on the Red Sea coast at Al-Ain Al-Sokhna. Slated for completion in mid-2009, the refinery would process 130,000 bpd of local crude oil, mainly geared toward exports. Royal Dutch Shell Plc has reportedly agreed to a contract to utilize the output, which will produce fuel to meet “Euro 5” European Union regulations on car emissions.

The state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) is planning to take a 16-percent stake in a $1 billion refinery, which is expected to be partially financed by France’s BNP Paribas and Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB).

BNP Paribas mulls acquisition of Bank of Alexandria

The privatization of Bank of Alexandria scheduled for early 2006 has reportedly attracted the interest of BNP Paribas SA. The Paris-based bank is already rapidly expanding in Egypt with plans to open about 30 retail branches throughout the country by 2007. According to media reports, it has chosen not to participate in the privatization of the Egyptian American Bank (EAB) in order to vie for a controlling stake in Bank of Alexandria, Egypt’s fourth largest public sector bank.

Boats collide near Suez Canal

An Egyptian passenger liner carrying 1,350 Muslim pilgrims collided with a cargo vessel at the southern entrance of the Suez Canal on October 17. Rescue crews were able to offload the passengers before the ship sank three hours later, though two people were killed and 40 injured during the stampede to flee the sinking vessel. All but five of the passengers on board the ship were Egyptians returning from the omra (lesser pilgrimage) to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Gov’t to sell stake in five historic hotels

The government has announced plans to partially privatize five historic hotels owned by the state-run Egyptian General Organization for Tourism & Hotels (EGOTH). According to media reports, it has allocated approximately £E 407 million for upgrades to the Marriott Cairo, Mena House Oberoi, Sofitel Cataract Aswan, Winter Palace Luxor and Helnan Palestine Alexandria in an effort to make them more appealing to potential investors.

The government plans to float 40 percent on the bourse while EGOTH will retain the remaining 60-percent stake. The stake sale will affect ownership, but is not expected to affect the existing management contracts of the hotels.

BLOM grabs stake in Misr Romanian Bank

Lebanon’s largest bank, BLOM, grabbed 12.5 percent of Misr Romanian Bank in an IPO last month and is expected to soon purchase the bank’s remaining shares. Through a “promise of sale” to buy state-owned Banque Misr’s 33-percent share in Misr Romanian Bank, BLOM is assured control of about 45.7 percent of the medium-sized bank, with the bank’s remaining shares held by banks and individual investors. It has said it will attempt to purchase the outstanding shares when they are listed on the stock exchange in the coming weeks.

BLOM has $10.8 billion in assets and reported profits of $60.16 million for the first half of 2005. Misr Romanian Bank has eight branches in Egypt and one branch and four offices in Romania. Its customer deposits as of June 2005 stand at $550 million while assets are about $650 million.

Bush appoints new Fed head

US president George W. Bush tagged long-time White House economic adviser Ben Bernanke to chair the Federal Reserve Board, replacing Alan Greenspan, who is due to retire in January 2006. Bernanke has said he intends to continue the monetary policies adopted by Greenspan during his 18 years as Fed chairman.

If the nomination is confirmed by the Senate, this would be the 51-year-old’s third economic post under Bush. In 2002, Bernanke, an economics professor, was named to the Federal Economic Board and later appointed as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in early 2005.

Greenspan offers praise

The chairman of the American Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan, praised the Egyptian government’s efforts to control inflation and price stabilization, attributing them to the country’s reinvigorated reform program. Greenspan’s comments came during a meeting with Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin, Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros-Ghali and the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Farouk El Okdah, during their visit to the US in late September. During the meeting, Greenspan also outlined the experience of the Federal Reserve in fighting inflation. He commented that Egypt’s economic policies were on track to keep inflation and prices under control.

Iraq-Egypt flights resume after 15 years

An Iraqi Airways plane landed in Cairo this month marking the resumption of regular flights between the two countries after a 15-year hiatus. Egypt banned all civilian flights to and from Baghdad following Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait in compliance with UN-imposed sanctions on the country.

Iraqi Airways flights are scheduled to land in Cairo twice a week, though Egypt has granted landing permission for up to four flights a week. Iraq’s national carrier currently has regular flights to Syria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Turkey, and is expected to resume services to Lebanon and Iran soon.

Project to build $100 laptop

US innovation laboratory MIT Media Lab has launched a research initiative to build an affordable laptop to educate children around the world. The “One Laptop Per Child Project” envisions a $100 Linux-based, full-color, full-screen laptop that will do almost everything except store huge amounts of data. The rugged laptops will be WiFi and cell phone-enabled and will have at least four USB ports and an innovative power supply, including a wind-up charger. So far the specifications made known are 500 MHz and 1 GB.

The laptops, not yet in production, will not be available for sale. Instead, they will be distributed directly to schools around the world, including in Egypt, through large government initiatives.

OCI invests in ammonia plant

Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) has said it will take a 30-percent stake in Egypt Basic Industries Corporation (EBIC), which is preparing to build the largest-ever ammonia plant to be established in Egypt. OCI will invest $57 million of the project’s $190 million equity, making it the largest single investor in the 2,000 metric ton per day ammonia plant to be built near Al-Ain Al-Sokhna. The project’s other sponsors include PSK Holdings, Amiral Group and Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC). OCI will be the lead contractor.

The plant will use natural gas as its primary fuel source and has already signed a 25-year gas supply agreement with state-owned EGPC. The plant’s output will be purchased by New York-based Transammonia, a leading specialized international trader.

IPRA returns to Cairo in 2006

The International Public Relations Association (IPRA) will hold its 2006 annual conference in Cairo on January 21-23, 2006 under the theme “Reputation management in a changing world.” It is the second time Egypt has been selected to host this annual event. The conference will feature discussion panels and workshops, as well as several prominent international speakers.

BBC plans Arabic TV

The BBC World Service plans to launch an Arabic-language television service and shut down 10 local-language radio services as part of a worldwide restructuring. The Arabic television service will compete with pan-Arab satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera, which was founded in 1996 after the closure of BBC Arabic, a failed joint venture between BBC World Service and Saudi-owned Orbit. The new Arabic service is expected to broadcast 12 hours a day when it launches sometime in 2007.

Currency ratings affirmed

International emerging markets rating agency Capital Intelligence (CI) has affirmed Egypt’s BB+/B long- and short-term foreign currency ratings and its BBB/A3 long- and short-term local currency ratings, with a stable outlook. CI said the ratings are supported by Egypt’s manageable debt burden and improved international liquidity.

Back in black

A Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) report indicates that for the first time in years, Egypt has achieved a surplus in the balance of payment (BoP), attaining $4.5 billion during FY 2004-05 compared to a deficit of $200 billion during the previous fiscal year.

According to the report, the capital account recorded an inflow of $3.4 billion versus an outflow of $5 billion during the previous fiscal year, while the services balance recorded a surplus of $7.8 billion, up by $500 million.

The CBE said the balance of trade rose 32.5 percent to reach $10.4 billion. It attributed the rise to an increase in commodity exports as a result of a 17.4-percent increase in revenues from tourism in FY 2004-05 to reach $6.4 billion along with a 16.1-percent rise in Suez Canal receipts to reach $3.3 billion.

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