European anti-poverty aid FAYZA Abul-Naga, minister of international cooperation, and Hani Seif El-Nasr, managing director of the Social Fund for Development (SFD), signed a new grant agreement with Georgios Tsitsopoulos, head of operations of the Delegation of the European Commission in Egypt whereby the EU will provide 20 million euros as a grant to support community infrastructure and demand-driven social development activities in urban and rural areas. The new programme which will be implemented over four years by the SFD aims at contributing to poverty reduction and socio-economic development through activities supporting employment creation and income generation for the poor to upgrade the living standards of citizen in areas of poverty. The programme will give special attention to the direct involvement of local communities in the implementation of selected activities emphasising the role of local NGOs and community development associations as vehicles for social and infrastructure services aimed at the poor. More Tunisian protocols THE EGYPTIAN-Tunisian Supreme Committee met on 30 June to discuss bilateral economic relations. During the meeting headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and his Tunisian counterpart Mohamed Al-Ghanoshi, seven protocols were signed to regulate the cooperation between both countries in trade, industry, tourism, information technology, social affairs, culture and education. The meeting was an opportunity for officials to follow up on the recommendations and decisions taken during the previous committee meeting held in Tunisia in March 2005. They discussed ways to boost investment in both countries and encourage businessmen to establish new projects and agreed to establish a joint company in Tunisia to operate natural gas stations for vehicles and buses. Bilateral trade volume between Egypt and Tunisia increased from $116 million in 2005 to $160 million in 2006, and the committee aims to raise it to $300 million. TVET training programmes FOUR private-public partnerships have been launched within the framework of the EU-funded Technical and Vocational Education and Training System (TVET) Programme. The partnerships are in the engineering, food processing, wood and furniture and building and construction materials sectors. The TVET system is designed to assist in the reform of education and training systems aiming at enhancing the competitiveness of Egyptian enterprises on the domestic and international markets. The programme is scheduled to run for a total of six years beginning in July 2005. The EU is paying half of the estimated 66 million euro cost, with the Egyptian government picking up the rest. The aim of the programme is not to provide additional training, but to introduce a creative and innovative approach to the concept of training. The programme has 12 projected pilot partnerships which are designed to help identify the demands of industry in terms of human resource development and training with an eye on implementing a bottom-up reform strategy starting with the improvement of training for the work force and ending with enhanced competitiveness for Egyptian industry. Foodstuffs galore MORE than 75 Egyptian companies will participate in ANUGA, the International Trade Fair held biennially, which will take place in Cologne from 13-17 October 2007, according to Tareq Tawfiq, chairman of the Food Export Council and vice-chairman of the Chamber of Food Industry (CFI). The Egyptian companies will showcase foodstuff products. Peter Goepfrich, chairman of German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce said that these will be comprised mainly of milk, sweets, fruits (frozen, dried), rice and its products, canned vegetables, dried dates, baby food, herbs, nuts, tea, pasta, canned juices and spices. Egypt has participated in ANUGA 12 times. The organisers say that more than 400 Egyptian companies are expected to visit the fair this year, the largest contingent ever. In 2005, some 150,000 visitors from 156 countries visited the fair that boasted 6,300 exhibits from 108 countries. Goepfrich added that the Egyptian food processing industry has experienced rapid development through the use of new technologies. The food processing industry accounts for LE31 billion. This represents 50 per cent of the total output of Egypt's industrial sector, with a strong annual growth rate of 20 per cent. There are currently 4,700 registered food processing enterprises in Egypt, employing roughly 250,000 skilled workers. Siemens power contract THE MULTINATIONAL company SIEMENS has signed a contract with the Ministry of Electricity and Energy to supply a state-of-the-art gas insulated switchgear (GIS) sub-station in Al-Tebbin power station. The contract was signed by Hassan Younes, minister of electricity and energy, and Hatem El-Ghoroury, senior vice-president and head of power transmission and distribution in Siemens Egypt. Valued at LE145 million, the contract also encompasses a provisional sum of 10 per cent of the total contract price. The execution of the project is expected to be completed by winter 2009. New petrochemical projects FOREIGN and Egyptian banks in Egypt are becoming active partners in the field of oil and petrochemical industries thanks to the high profitability and economic viability of these projects. Recently, a group of banks -- the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, the Commercial International Bank (CIB), the Arab Bank and National Société Générale Bank (NSGB) -- extended a loan of $380 million which covers 40 per cent of the total cost of the $950 million Ammonia/Urea plant to be established in Damietta. The investment cost of the total petrochemical complex in Damietta is estimated at $1.5 billion. Petroleum sector companies will account for 33 per cent of the shares, the Canadian Agrium company -- 60 per cent and the APRICORP for Petroleum Investment -- seven per cent. Once completed, the project will contribute some 1.3 million tons of Ammonia/Urea annually and it will provide some 2,500 direct and indirect job opportunities. "The enthusiasm of international finance corporations and reputable companies reflects their trust in the project," said Sameh Fahmi during the signing of the bank loan on 26 June. According to Fahmi, a new criterion has been implemented to calculate the price of natural gas for the project. Fahmi underlined that no ceiling for the price of natural gas has been set, "a factor that will increase the profitability of the project, particularly if the price of international fertilisers goes up," he said. It is worth noting that Canadian investment in the petrochemical sector in Egypt has reached $2.5 billion. A second Egyptian-Canadian project for producing menthol has also been completed.
