Egyptian officials are expected to sign a contract with two aerospace companies for the sale of a military telecommunications satellite in France on Tuesday, French newspaper La Tribune reported. The contract for the sale of the satellite amounts to approximately 600 million Euros. The deal will be signed with Thales Alenia Space (TAS), Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer, and Space Systems Airbus. According to La Tribune, the deal came following seven months of negotiations between Cairo and the two industrial companies. During French president Francois Hollande's visit to Cairo on 17 April, 30 memorandums of understanding between the two countries were signed. In December 2015, it was reported that the two countries were unable to reach an agreement concerning Egypt's purchase of two satellites, citing technical reasons for the failure in negotiations. Meanwhile, La Tribune reports that TAS and Space Systems' initial proposal was two satellites, one specialized for telecom and the other for observation. The finalized contract specifies that Egypt will only purchase the military telecommunications satellite. Cairo and Paris have enjoyed close ties since current president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi was elected in 2014. During the past two years, Egypt and France have signed several arms deals. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/208260.aspx
