Dilemma of the Egyptian village

Since time immemorial Egypt was a rural community. The Egyptian village was the backbone of the country’s economy; it was Egypt’s food basket, and peasants were role models of hard work and productivity. In fact, it was only when the ancients settled down on the Nile bank and took up agriculture as their main activity that the legendary Egyptian civilisation took off and blossomed.

How times have changed. Today, according to Dr Gamal Siyam of Cairo University, agriculture represents no more than 14 per cent of Egypt’s GNP, 15 per cent of Egypt’s exports, and 55 per cent of its food sufficiency ...    for more information

Suez Canal development project

It has been nothing but political turmoil and economic decline in Egypt ever since the 25 January uprising in 2011, which brought down Egypt’s longtime president Hosni Mubarak and brought in Islamist power. The 33 million-strong corrective revolution on 30 June 2013 . resulted in the overthrow of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood (MB) regime and spearheaded political reform with a civic, consensual Constitution and prospects of presidential and parliamentary elections in the near future ...more informatian | wataninet

? What if women in Egypt are more economically empowered

Scenario one In this scenario, traditional measures are taken such as awareness campaigns and flexible work regulations for women: Women’s participation rate in the private sector increases, where they are hired according to equal opportunities and merit. Increased women participation in the labor market will positively impact GDP growth.  Higher share of women in the wage bill will increase family income and improve standards of living.  The Egyptian Center for Economic Studies - ECES Scenario two In this scenario, additional innovative policies are applied such as targeted support to women entrepreneurs: In addition to private sector involvement, more women become self-employed and entrepreneurs. Women’s participation rate (currently at 23 percent) becomes closer to that of men (72 percent), potentially increasing GDP by around 30 percent. In addition to an increased share in wage bill, women’s share in profit generation increases, with positive spillovers such as more innovation and creativity, which would help generate more profit for women.

Women as breadwinners

women in Egypt work beside their husbands

How do Egyptian families fare if the adult male members are unable or unwilling to work, or if they are simply not around?

It is customary for Egyptian women to work, and in contrast to many other parts of the world where a woman’s place was traditionally regarded as being in the home—children, church and kitchen—it is considered neither demeaning nor indicative of neglecting her family. According to their background, women in Egypt work beside their husbands in the fields; in private or government offices; or at the highest professional levels. Women have no problem finding work; and when they find themselves having to feed their families they have no qualms about accepting any job on offer. According to the industrialist Louis Bishara, women are more dedicated and committed workers and so employers frequently 

prefer them to men

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Egypt’s new logistics center .. An international hub

Dr Khaled Hanafy

  ... 
The 2011 Arab Spring uprising and its tumultuous consequences brought Egypt’s economy to near-collapse. Today the country needs to speed up development and kickstart the economy, and the government has announced several mega-projects intended to do just that. The New Suez Canal project is already underway, and a logistics centre for cereal and grain envisioned in the Mediterranean port of Damietta on Egypt’s northeast coast

more informatian | wataninet ...                                                                          

Egypt’s economy: challenged and challenging

Is Egypt’s economy finally looking up after the near standstill it had come to in the wake of the Arab Spring uprising in January 2011? Recent indicators appear to point that way

Last week the global rating agency Standard and Poor’s affirmed Egypt’s credit rating at B-/B, but raised the economic outlook to ‘Stable’, citing political and security stability, slight recovery of GDP, and financial reforms that help boost economic growth. But S&P noted that the high deficit, government debt, need of borrowing and continued low GD

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The Euromoney Jordan Conference

Victoria Behn

Victoria Behn Director, Middle East and Africa-Euromoney Conferences : I am delighted to announce The Euromoney Jordan Conference will return to Amman on the 25 April 2016. As a previous delegate at a Euromoney event I am pleased to offer you the first opportunity to apply for your place...

Will monorail come to EgypT

In many parts of the world the monorail, or elevated railway system, is thought of as a modern solution to traffic problems in overcrowded cities. Since it moves on suspended rails and therefore does not interfere with the flow of traffic on the roads, many countries have adopted this transport system to ease traffic congestion.

Several weeks ago Mustafa Madbouli who was Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban development in the cabinet of Ibrahim Mahlab which resigned September 2015, announced the selection of an Egyptian-Canadian consortium to erect a monorail project that would link the Cairo satellite towns of 6 October and Sheikh Zayed to Cairo and Giza. The consortium consists of Bombardier Inc ...  FOR MORE INFORMATION

Statement from the Egyptian Minister of Tourism

Hisham Zaazou

CAIRO – ECO - Nariman Yanny :  The Egyptian minister of tourism Hisham Zaazou , has expressed his confidence in the recovery of the tourism industry in Egypt. Dr. Zaazou added that, the areas of the Red Sea Riviera resorts such as Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Safaga, Quseir in addition to the Sinai resorts of Sharm El Sheikh...

Greening a million feddans of desert

Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development (HU) held a recent workshop under the title “1.5 Million Feddans for Life”. The event was hosted by HU Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Ibrahim Abouleish, who is also the founder of the SEKEM initiative, which was established in 1977 to promote biodynamic and organic agriculture and sustainable development, and is Egypt’s pioneer in this field ... for more information  

Launch of the Boom J8

The unique user interface of the HiOS, improved app management options and highly optimized audio features place the new Tecno Boom J8 at the core of mobile customers' demands, Tecno Marketing and PR lead, Attai Oguche, told the gathering at the launch of the product that attracted capacity audience ...

ستيف جوبز مؤسس شركة أبل

Steve Jobs's Top 10 Rules for Success

- Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Historic Interview

من هو ستيف جوبز؟ - مصطفى حسني

Steve Jobs' Last Words and Best Advice

لقطات مميزة - قصة ستيف جوبز و سبب نجاحه

Steve Jobs. The Lost Interview. 2012

خطاب ستيف جوبز مؤسس شركة آبل في جامعة ستانفورد

Tribute to Steve Jobs Think Different

وفاة ستيف جوبز الBBC

‎Posted by News Agency Economic and Technological 

? Can Egyptian goods fill the gaps

The recent decree [No 25 of 2016] of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to raise customs tariffs on hundreds of imported luxury goods which have a local substitute has led to both controversy and apprehension in the Egyptian market.

The decision has been hailed by many economists and analysts as a positive step towards reviving the ailing economy, especially in decreasing the budget deficit and supporting national industry. But the Division of Importers at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce is harshly critical of the decree which they claim will only cause price rises... for more information /  
   en.wataninet

? Politics or economy: which comes first

DR.Ahmed Galal 

Towards the end of the 1980sthe world held its breath as communism, a political force in Russia for 70 years, started to fall apart, to be replaced by a system that favoured democracy and a free market economy. At almost the same time, free market reforms were introduced to China, leading to what is today very nearly the mightiest industrial and trade powerhouse in the world, but still with much to be desired on the political front ...  All through this the world watched, with many pondering the question: which should have come first, political reform or economic development? To this day there is no definite answer to the question.

That same question has imposed itself on the Egyptian scene to the point that a recent conference in Cairo, dubbed a ‘national dialogue,’ was dedicated to discussing just that. The dialogue was organised by the Economic Research Forum (ERF), a regional network dedicated to promoting high quality economic research to contribute to sustainable development in the Arab world, Iran and Turkey as part of a series of national dialogue events under the title “The Egypt of the Future” ... for more information in |en.wataninet.com 

Natural gas find fuels Egypt’s needs

It was an exciting find. Almost a month ago, Italian energy giant Eni S.p.A. announced the discovery .

of Zohr, the largest ever offshore natural gas field in the Mediterranean, located in the Shorouk block. The new gas field ranks among the largest worldwide; it currently ranks 20th, and according to Eni it is the fourth largest discovery in the last 10 years. According to Egyptian energy experts, it should work to meet a large portion of Egypt’s energy needs for many decades to come

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) declared in a statement that the recently discovered natural gas field inside Egypt’s territorial waters in the Mediterranean is expected to improve the energy situation in Egypt and boost the country’s economy.

Eni was awarded the licence to operate the offshore Mediterranean concession as a result of rounds of bidding held in 2013 by the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS). The agreement was signed in January 2014 between Eni, EGAS and the Ministry of Petroleum ... more information in  wataninet.com

Needed: Investor-friendly laws

 With Egypt’s parliament now in session, everyone is looking up to it for legislative reform. At a conference held earlier this month by the Canada Egypt Business Council (CEBC) on “The Egyptian Judiciary and Challenges of the Current Stage”, the event guest speaker was Minister of Justice Ahmed al-Zend who spoke about the anticipated economic legislation and Judiciary reform.

 “Solving the problems of any society is always possible provided a fair legal system exists to correct wrongdoing and restore public rights. But if corruption reaches the judiciary, it is an indication of the imminent fall of the State,” said CEBC Chairman Motaz Raslan in his welcome speech ... for more information  en.wataninet

?What unemployment

Is unemployment in Egypt the real demon it has constantly been made to appear throughout the last decades, and which successive Egyptian governments were ? accused of failing to address

“Just give us the ‘young unemployed’, and we’ll
 provide the jobs.” This was the reply of Egyptian industrialists and businessmen to a demand by President Sisi that they should provide jobs for Egypt’s young unemployed. The reply was flabbergasting since it challenged a ‘myth’ propagated by official figures that place unemployment at over 13 per cent

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The art of driving investors away/ archive

“During the years of the pre-2011 Revolution regime of Hosni Mubarak, reputable companies and financial and banking institutions set up shop in Egypt, ” Economic and capital market expert Mustafa Badra told Watani. “Today, it is unfortunate that many of them are being sold off to foreign investors. Local investors, many of whom might have profited from the deals, are not buying

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? Economic reform: Where to

Today, it is the ambition of Egypt’s business community to enhance the investment climate in the country. The government has been working hard to achieve this goal by adopting a reform plan that takes into account economic and social concerns ...

Up with the economy

As Egypt gears up to the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) to be held in the coastal resort of Sharm al-Sheikh from 13 – 15 March, Egyptians have been holding high hopes that this conference would work to attract the foreign investment needed to get the economy up from the beating it took in the wake of the Arab Spring uprising in January 2011. Back then Egypt had a pre-Arab Spring growth rate close to an annual 7 per cent and had foreign currency reserves of some USD36 billion. Today, Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) figures place the reserves at USD15.4 billion and, according to Head of the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics Abu-Bakr al-Guindi the growth rate has risen to 2.2 per cent after its all-time low of 0.4 per cent after the Arab Spring in 2011

    more informatian | wataninet ...