Rice ban continues THE BAN on exports of Egyptian rice was extended this week by Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid. The ban first went into force in April 2008 following the international food shortages and hikes in food prices. It was due to expire in April 2009. "This move is part of our efforts to ensure that the supply needed by the domestic market is completely met," said Rachid in a statement. The purpose of this export ban, according to the minister, is to ensure that there is no distortion in the price of rice in the Egyptian market due to patterns in the international market. But, he said "this stabilisation has not yet been achieved." According to a ministry press release, suppliers committed to provide rice, under the subsidy programme, to the General Authority for Supply Commodities will be permitted to export the same amount they supply to the authority provided that they pay the export fee, which has been increased from LE300 to LE1,000. In another move, the ministry recently imposed anti-dumping duties of LE500 per tonne on imports of white sugar, on top of an existing 10 per cent tariff, to protect the local sugar industry from unfairly priced imports. Rachid, speaking to Reuters news agency in Davos, stated that Egypt, "which meets 70-80 per cent of its needs in sugar from local production, suffered such a strong surge in imports in recent weeks since domestic production has stopped." A boost to funding THE EUROPEAN Union's neighbours in the east and the south will soon be getting more funds to improve their infrastructure projects through the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) Trust Fund Agreement signed on the margins of the General Affairs and External Relations Council held 26 January 2009. The agreement will allow EU member states to provide additional funds to the NIF which is believed to be a key lever of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The signing of the NIF Trust Fund is a fundamental step that would bring together grants from the European Commission (EC), the EU member states along with loans from the European public finance institutions as well as contributions from the ENP partner countries," said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, commissioner for external relations and ENP, who added that NIF plays a key role in financing major projects and provides a concrete platform for coordinating all European actors to maximise the possibilities for funding of such big projects. "It shows that we are serious about our offer of drawing partners closer." The signature of the NIF Trust Fund will bring together grants from the EC and the EU member states with loans from European public finance institutions as well as contributions from the ENP partner countries. It is worth noting that this trust fund has been opened by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in order to receive member states' bilateral contributions. In 2008, 37 million euros of additional contributions have been pledged by 15 member states and will complement the 100 million euros already provided by the EC budget. The commission has pledged to contribute a total amount of 700 million euros for the NIF for the period 2007-2013. NIF priorities are to support very large investment projects for infrastructures in the ENP region focussing on transport, energy, and environment and also social and private sectors. Therefore, the facility contributes to address some of the common major challenges with EU partners such as renewable energy promotion. The resources of the NIF Trust Fund will be used as of this year to finance projects together with the European Budget contribution. Shoot till you drop ONLY two weeks are left before a competition aimed at encouraging Egyptian youth to shoot short video clips expires. The competition, launched by Nokia earlier this year, accepts participants unconditionally, but rejects clips of duration more than 96 seconds. The first 100 runners up will enter a second phase where they will receive intensive courses in directing, acting and photography. In the third phase, scheduled for April, the winners will receive prizes ranging from mobile phones to safari trips.
