Opportunity knocks for 23rd time A DELEGATION from the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo is in the US capital this week on the chamber's 23rd annual Door Knock mission. Composed of 40 chamber members, the mission is touting the improved business environment in Egypt under the theme of "Egypt Moving Forward". One of the main issues the delegation is addressing on its visit is the potential for a free trade agreement with the US. The delegation, which returns tomorrow, had 20 meetings scheduled with administration officials and members of the House and Senate, in addition to representatives of leading think tanks. LNG journey A SHIPMENT of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has departed the Damietta port bound for the US with 60,000 tonnes on board, the first step completed in an ambitious plan to export LNG to the US and countries in the EU. According to Sameh Fahmi, minister of petroleum, as of December 2004 Egypt's proven natural gas reserves are 66 trillion cubic feet. Statistics have shown that extra reserves estimated at 100 trillion cubic feet have been detected in the areas of the Western Desert and the Mediterranean Coast. The LNG industry in Egypt has been undergoing a huge boom since the 1990s. As a result, a national natural gas grid has been extended along the country to service commercial as well as household purposes. Plans have been set to make natural gas the most widely used type of energy nationwide. More important still, the steadily growing proven reserves of natural gas has encouraged Egypt to adopt an export strategy emphasising shipping LNG or piping natural gas to neighbouring countries. Last July, Egyptian gas was first exported to Jordan through the Arish/Aqaba pipeline. Work in the next phase is underway with an aim to extend the pipeline over an area of 395km from Aqaba to Rehab on the Jordanian/Syrian border and then to Turkey. In the meantime, two gigantic projects for liquefying natural gas with a capacity of 12.2 million tonnes per year are now operational. The production is mainly for export to Italy and Spain. Forex amendment THE EGYPTIAN Cabinet has agreed to amend controversial provisions in the unified banking law, reducing the minimum capital requirements for foreign exchange bureaus from LE10 million to LE5 million. A ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court nullified the 13 January deadline given to Forex bureaus to correct their status. Forex bureaus were permitted to operate temporarily while the case moved to arbitration in the Supreme Constitutional Court. The decision was welcomed by most Forex bureaus who vowed to conform by next year when the amendment is to be voted on by the People's Assembly. It remains unclear whether the decision will mean an end to the legal saga between Forex bureaus and the government. It may force a number of smaller Forex bureaus, unable to raise the LE5 million paid capital minimum, to close down. To prevent smaller bureaus from leaving the market, Forex bureau owner Hassan El-Abiad has proposed that companies unable to conform to the paid in capital requirements be allowed to operate in services of lesser capacity than their bigger counterparts. ITIDA: another step forward PRIME MINISTER Ahmed Nazif has appointed the members of the board of directors for the Information Technology Industry Development Authority (ITIDA), which is to be headed by Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tareq Kamel and will include Mohamed Omran, executive director for the authority, and Ahmed Amin, representative of the State Council. The newly established ITIDA is set not only to oversee the implementation of the electronic signature law, but also to contribute to the overall growth of the IT sector, according to Kamel. By establishing the ITIDA via Law 15/2004, the government has taken another step towards consolidating Egypt's information society. The new authority will support the development of electronic transactions and e- government. It is designed to oversee the implementation of the e-signature law and work to develop and support an export-oriented IT sector. Kamel also stated that the establishment of the ITIDA comes within the framework of Egypt's information society initiative, announced by President Hosni Mubarak at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva in 2003. An important part of this initiative is to devise means to govern the use of electronic transactions -- a key factor in the transformation to a paperless society -- leading to the e-signature law approved by parliament in April 2004. The law helps improve the efficiency of government services while putting Egypt on an equal footing with global competitors in a world where e-signatures are the norm. It aims at regulating the use of transactions undertaken electronically, be they civil, commercial or administrative, and guaranteeing that they are accorded the same worth as those written and signed on paper. The ITIDA's responsibilities includes "issuing and renewing the licences required for those operating in the field of e-signature services, and electronic transactions," said Kamel, adding that it will also offer technical counselling and deal with complaints related to the use of e- signatures and electronic transactions. The ITIDA will improve government services to both the business community and citizens across the country, and will help increase Egypt's hard currency revenues by opening up export opportunities for Egyptian IT products and services. In addition, with a definitive data base that is easily distributable to businessmen and investors, it will also be a platform for greater transparency, according to Kamel.
