 |
 |
 |
 |
| Search |  |
 |
 |
Regional Notes Saudi, Oman to end state GSM monopoly
Saudi Arabia plans to auction off a new mobile phone license by
mid-2004, ending the monopoly of state-owned Saudi Telecommunications
Company. The national service currently has 5 million mobile subscribers.
The kingdom sold a 30-percent stake in the sole telecom provider
in January to Saudi and Gulf investors for $4.1 billion. Qatari telco eyes Moroccan phone stake Qatar’s sole telecommunications provider Qatar Telecom (Q-Tel) is intending to expand its reach, vying for Vivendi Universal’s 35-percent stake in Moroccan service provider Maroc Telecom. Vivendi is looking to divest its minority share – purchased for $2.6 billion in 2000. Q-Tel was partly privatized in 1997, when the government sold off 45 percent of its stake to investors. Jordan to extend rail network Jordan’s state-run Aqaba Railway Corporation (ARC) announced plans in July to introduce a $28.38 million tender for the construction of a 22.5-kilometer railway connecting Shidiyeh phosphates mines with the country’s main rail network, which runs to the port city of Aqaba. Phosphate company officials complained that transporting phosphate from the mine to the port had been prohibitively expensive, due to the high cost of using trucks to haul cargo. Libya looks to boost tourism Hoping to reverse the negative effects of years of international sanctions imposed after the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing, Libya has drawn up a $7 billion plan to boost tourism. Foreign investors have already committed to building tourist villages and hotels along the North African country’s 1,000-kilometer Mediterranean coastline, including Saudi business tycoon Prince Al-Walid bin Talal, who will invest in a $20 million hotel venture. Last year, some 570,000 tourists, including 200,000 Europeans, visited Libya. Dubai introduces smart bus cards In an effort to entice citizens to use public transportation, Dubai’s Public Transport Department will soon launch prepaid electronic travel cards entitling passengers to a 10-percent reduction on bus fares and discounts at local retail outlets. The cards are expected to reduce boarding and disembarkation times, as well as eliminate the need to search for small change. Ticket machines installed on buses will automatically read the rechargeable cards. Some 250 new buses will be added to the fleet to cater to the expected increase in commuter numbers. Saudi endorses new insurance rules Saudi Arabia’s cabinet endorsed an insurance law in July that is expected to boost market turnover and open the door to new foreign companies – prerequisites for the kingdom’s entry into the World Trade Organization. Currently, annual insurance turnover in Saudi Arabia is $2.7 billion, which is expected to jump to $13.3 billion over the next five years. The new legislation, which will come into effect in three months, complies with Islamic principles. Damascus abolishes currency decree Syrian president Bashar Al Assad in early July abolished a decree that had banned transactions in foreign currencies. The move is designed to help private banks operate freely in the socialist country – and to encourage greater foreign investment. In May, Syria issued licenses to the first three private banks since the ruling Arab Baath Socialist Party took charge in 1963. Hebron hard hit by Intifada The West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil, in Arabic) has lost $2 billion since the outbreak of the second intifada in September 2000, the city’s municipal government announced in July. According to a report, strict Israeli army closures, confiscation and razing of Palestinian-owned property and destruction of the city’s infrastructure have dealt serious blows to both the governmental and private sectors. Before the intifada, Hebron represented 60.4 percent of the total Palestinian economy, an amount that has dwindled to a current 29 percent. Sabotage hurts Iraqi crude exports Sabotage continues to undermine efforts to export crude oil from northern Iraqi oilfields, where a series of blasts has hit the northern pipeline to Turkey. In order to sustain oil exports in the current turmoil, Iraq was preparing in mid-July to issue its third post-war crude oil tender – at expected volumes of 8 million barrels – from oilfields in the south. By the middle of August, Iraq’s oil export capacity is predicted to reach 750,000 barrels per day. Sudanese daily banned In July, a Sudanese court fined and closed down the English-language daily Khartoum Monitor for publishing an interview with a former minister about the existence of slavery in Sudan – which the government firmly denies. The paper had just relaunched its operations after a two-month ban for an earlier article. Writing about the sensitive issues of religion and the 20-year-old civil war in the country’s south has frequently placed the paper in the government’s cross hairs. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Site Developed and Maintained by the Business Information Center of AmCham Egypt Copyright©2008 American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt |
|||
 |
|||