Rice exports licenced THE MINISTRY of Trade and Industry announced on 16 November that 15 companies have secured rice export licences following a public bidding round. These are first licences granted since Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid issued a decree in October allowing for the export of a total of 100,000 tonnes of rice per month. The 15 companies will export a total of 13,950 tonnes between them in the period between 1 December 2009 and 1 January 2010. The price of each licence ranged between LE700 and LE1,250. It is expected that other rice export licence tenders will follow soon. Under the amended rice export regulations, a total of 100,000 tonnes of rice is to be exported per month. The export licences are to be issued following a closed-envelope bidding process with an export cap of 34,000 tonnes per licence. Egypt currently produces an average of two million tonnes of rice per year. Last year, the Egyptian government announced that it aims to decrease the production of rice to around 1.3 million tonnes per year due to water shortages. In light of this policy, along with increases in the price of rice to the consumer in the domestic market, the ministry banned rice exports altogether in 2008. This decision was later amended in 2009 to allow limited rice exports by those producers supplying rice to the national subsidy programme. Wastewater treatment funded THE AFRICAN Development Bank (AFDB) recently signed an agreement with the Ministry of International Cooperation to extend a long-term loan of 53.3 million euros to contribute to the financing of Gabal Al-Asfar Wastewater Treatment Plant (GAWWTP) in Cairo. The AFDB's loan represents 23 per cent of the total cost of the project. "We take pride in our collaboration with Egypt on financing this strategic project. The primary objective is to strengthen the efforts made by the Egyptian government towards a wider and improved coverage of sanitation services in the country, thereby contributing to good health and a cleaner environment," said Jacob Kolster, regional director of AFDB. The project will provide an additional wastewater treatment capacity of at least 500,000 cubic metres per day to existing capacity. The wastewater will undergo full treatment, including preliminary, primary and secondary treatment. The GAWWTP covers the greater part of the eastern Nile bank of Greater Cairo, home to approximately eight million people. Once completed, the additional wastewater treatment capacity will serve an additional 2.5 million people in East Cairo in addition to nearly 900,000 residents in nearby towns and villages. Lake Manzala, where the treated drainage is discharged, will have its environmental condition improved. Environment-friendly lime A NEW plant for the production of lime using state-of-the-art technologies will soon be established in the city of Suez. The new ecologically sound product will be used in numerous applications, including steel, chemical, agri-food and paper production, and in the construction sector. The facility, expected to operate by 2011, will have an initial capacity of 300 tonnes per day. A second plant will shortly follow, putting production capacity up to 200,000 tonnes per year. "The establishment of the new lime plant will enable Suez Lime Company to expand its productivity and promote advanced technologies," said Nabil Francis, managing director of Suez Lime. Suez Lime was established in 2007 as a joint venture between UNICALCE, a world leader in the production of lime, and the Suez Cement Company, the largest Egyptian cement producer. At present, the company captures almost 50 per cent of the local market. A plant is already operating in Cairo to produce hydrated lime, principally used for water treatment purposes. According to Carlo Conca, president of UNICALCE, there is enormous potential for the use of lime in Egypt. "The location of the new production facility inside the Suez Cement Company plant guarantees the highest standards in terms of quality and cost-efficiency," he said. Paying bill pains PAYING bills is already unpleasant, let alone the hassle associated with paying them on a regular basis. It is little wonder then that delegating someone to paying monthly bills is rapidly becoming a trend among a growing number of Egyptian consumers. Interesting research recently conducted by a leading Egyptian company specialised in banking and payment technology services has underlined growing demand among Egyptians for advanced bill payment facilities that would eliminate the hassles of today's traditional bill payment methods. Almost 85 per cent of 400 Egyptians surveyed, representing various socio-economic backgrounds in Cairo and Alexandria, preferred to delegate someone to pay their telephone, mobile, utilities, satellite and Internet bills due to long queues and crowds at bill payment points. "The research clearly shows that existing channels of bill payment, although varied, still lack convenience and simplicity for Egyptians who tend to be overwhelmed with the large number of monthly, quarterly and annual bills within their households," said Ashraf Sabry, CEO of Fawry, the company that conducted the research. Respondents rated fixed line bills, car registration fees, and driver's licence renewal and club memberships as the most inconvenient and most forgotten. According to the research, the majority of respondents (94.5 per cent) wanted to see a single unified bill and payment service that would allow them to view, manage and pay all household bills from a single point of contact while providing an annual record or history of paid bills and expected future bills. Egyptians exert significant efforts to find out the amounts due through calls or by visiting billers' websites, or even by making a physical trip to find out the value of bills due. "The overwhelmingly positive feedback by respondents demonstrates Egyptians' desire for alternative bill payment methods that are efficient, secure and available to them through a single, convenient and easy to use interface," said Sabry.
