Egypt's Sisi Closes Economic Conference With Call for Further Investment Egypt needs hundreds of billions of dollars in investments to rebuild an economy struggling to recover from years of political unrest, the cash-strapped Arab country's president said Sunday. In a speech marking the end of a three-day economic conference in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Abdel Fattah Al Sisi reiterated his commitment to peace and growth as he sought more investments from the international community, after receiving commitments worth billions of dollars. Egypt signed investment deals worth more than $138 billion on the first two days of the conference, while its Arab Gulf neighbors—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates—pledged another $12 billion to help stabilize its economy. The total amount of investments it sealed at the conference is expected to rise after Sunday's numbers are added, officials said. Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/egypts-sisi-closes-economic-conference-with-call-for-further-investment-1426439594 The Guardian
Sharm el-Sheikh rumbles with grand promises of the international elite On the shores of the Red Sea, something is rumbling. It's not the helicopter gunships orbiting the skies or the Special Forces troops – their faces obscured behind thick balaclavas and dark goggles – that patrol the sun-kissed streets. The rumble is emanating from inside Sharm el-Sheikh's international congress centre, where business titans and heads of state are slapping backs and breaking bread, leaving a trail of Danish pastry crumbs in their wake. It's the rumble that accompanies the corporate makeover of a nation, and there are many – in Egypt and beyond its borders – hoping that it will prove loud enough to drown out this country's rival soundtracks of protest, resistance and dissent. These days the corridors of counter-revolution are busier than ever, and it is international elites who are making most of the noise. The Egyptian Economic Development Conference, which attracted more than 1,700 investors, government officials and consultancy experts – plus Tony Blair – to the southern Sinai this past weekend, was billed as a national coming-out party: the moment when this ancient country would finally move beyond its moody adolescent years of revolutionary upheaval and join the grown-up world of western modernity, where markets are sovereign, demonstrations are meaningless and acts of state violence are deemed unsuitable topics for conversation in polite society. Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/15/egyot-sharma-el-sheikh-rumbles-grand-promises The Atlantic
Egypt to Build a Potemkin Capital The teeming, maddening, and indescribably charming city of Cairo has served as Egypt's capital for 1,000 years. When it emerged it was perhaps the most important cultural center in the Arab world. But the city's days as Egypt's capital could be numbered. On Friday, the Egyptian government announced that the country will build a new capital from scratch, carving out a piece of the desert between Cairo and the Suez Canal. The project, which is being dubbed "the Capital Cairo," is slated to cost an estimated $45 billion and host Egypt's sprawling government bureaucracy, universities, tourism facilities, hospitals, and a new international airport. Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/03/egypt-to-build-a-potemkin-capital/387826/ Defense News
France to Modify Rafales for Egypt The Rafale fighter jets sold to Egypt will be modified to remove nuclear missile capability and NATO standard communications, a source close to the deal said. "There will be a few modifications," the source said. Once adapted, the fighters will be delivered, with the first three in time for Egyptian pilots to fly the twin-engine fighter in Egyptian colors over the opening of a new waterway on the Suez Canal in August. Read more: http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense-news/bizwatch/2015/03/14/france-to-modify-rafales-for-egypt/70211852/
