Eye on the market Bonouk Al Youm newspaper reported that the Central Bank of Egypt had postponed taking any decisions regarding requests made by conventional banks to open Islamic branches until the establishment of an Islamic banking department inside the Central Bank which guarantees that services provided are Sharia compliant. Al Masry Al Youm newspaper reported that Egypt will gradually reduce customs duties on imported passenger cars starting in 2010 in observance of its commitments under the World Trade Organization. Belton Financial said the Customs Authority will start preparing a work plan to reduce customs until 2019, in coordination with other government authorities. Over 25 types of cars are currently being imported, with 70 percent of the local demand being covered by imported vehicles. New business park planned for Sheikh Zayed City Cayan Investment and Development and Dorra Group announced the launch of Capital Business Park, their first joint project in Egypt. This project costs more than 1.5 billion AED and is located in a business hub on the main road of Sheikh Zayed city. Ahmed Al Hatti, chairman of Cayan said, As a leading property developer with luxurious projects in Dubai and Jeddah, we felt it s timely to enter the Egyptian market with a strategic partner such as Dorra Group. The project is designed by Hazel Wong (RMJM) who has received various international awards for projects such as Emirates Towers in Dubai and Lamar in Jeddah. Capital Business Park was designed to be one of its kinds in Egypt, said Omar Dorra, managing director of Dorra Group. The project consists of seven office buildings, five of which have six levels and the rest have 18 levels. Moreover, various office sizes ranging from 200sqm to 1000sqm are available. El Sewedy in talks with ECMEI Reuters reported that El Sewedy Cables is in talks to buy 51.2 percent of the Egyptian Company for Manufacturing Electrical Insulators (ECMEI). Ahmed El-Homossani, El Sewedy s director of investor relations, said the negotiations were at a very early stage, declining to give more information. ECMEI, which makes electrical porcelain insulators, says it has a 100 percent market share in Egypt. It has an investment capital of LE 200 million according to its web site. Shareholders in ECMEI include state-owned Holding Company for Egyptian Electricity, the Commercial International Bank (CIB) the National Bank of Egypt and the Arab African Investment Bank. El Sewedy, the largest publicly traded Arab cable producer, said last week it would build a $150 million power cable plant in Qatar with a local partner to tap surging Gulf Arab infrastructure spending. The company posted a 78 percent increase in first-quarter net profit after tax. - Agencies Government completes registration of newborns Al Ahram reported that the government has completed registration of 98 percent of newborns between 1988 and 2005, adding 18.815 million citizens, raising the number of beneficiaries to 56 million citizens. In its daily market report, Beltone Financial said that rations for the newly registered ration card holders will be disbursed starting July 2008 and partially subsidized cards will be converted to cards with total subsidy coverage, with the ration quantities being unified in rural and urban areas to ensure equality, quoting Aly El-Moshelhi, minister of Social Solidarity. The government has resumed registration of Egyptians in the ration card system in response to the rising inflation. The step aims to reduce social and political pressure on the government, which has been increasing over the past year, as prices of basic staples soar and growth-induced inflation rise. The year-on-year CPI rose to 16.4 percent in April 2008, up from 6.9 percent in December 2007. Online Distribution Ltd announces partnership with Avaya Online Distribution Ltd, a distributor of networking products in the Middle East, announced a strategic partnership with Avaya, a company that works with businesses to design, build, and manage their communications networks. The partnership is significant for OnLine Distribution s growth in the convergence technologies sector and will provide its growing number of partners with Avaya s Internet Protocol telephony systems and communications software applications and services. The major focus for OnLine Distribution is providing leading technologies to our trusted channel partners and empowering them with the technology that is most in demand, said Venu Menon, sales and marketing director of OnLine Distribution. Adding Avaya to our business portfolio not only enables us to further develop our presence in the emerging convergence technology sector, but the partnership enhances our capability in supporting our channel partners looking to service leading businesses in the region, added Menon. As a value-added distributor, OnLine Distribution currently represents more than 20 vendors in its vendor portfolio. OnLine Distribution s partnership with Avaya consists of the distribution of Avaya s enterprise portfolio across the Middle East excluding Saudi Arabia. Egypt buys 2.1 million tons domestic wheat Reuters reported that the Egyptian government has bought 2.134 million tons of wheat from local farmers, a 41 percent increase on last year, the Ministry of Social Solidarity said in a statement on Sunday. The ministry buys local wheat for distribution in towns at subsidized prices. The government bought 1.8 million tons of local wheat from Egyptian farmers in the whole of last year. Egypt has promised to pay farmers above international prices for this season s wheat, between 380 and 390 pounds per ardebb (150 kg), equivalent to about $472 per ton. Wheat has hit record highs this year due to drought, rising food demand and increased use of grains for environmentally friendly biofuels. The government s General Authority for Supply Commodities also imports about 6 million tons of wheat each year to cover the gap between local production and consumption, making Egypt one of the world s largest wheat importers. -Agencies
