Egypt to establish $1.1 billion industrial zones Egypt s Minister of Trade and Industry, Rachid Mohamed Rachid said that the country s Industrial Development Authority will offer 10 million square meters of land for the establishment of industrial services zones with investments reaching LE 6 billion ($1.1 billion).The new zones are expected to provide 18,000 jobs in the sixth of October, Sadat and Borg Al-Arab cities. They will include industrial components storage, integrated transport, assembling and packaging, freezing storages, shipping services, exports, banking and funding services and administrative buildings. - Intellinews Dubai reduces business fees to stimulate economy The Dubai government is to reduce business licensing fees by up to 30 percent and freeze other government charges in a bid to stimulate economic activity, the state news agency said. WAM said late on Thursday Dubai ruler and UAE vice president Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid issued the decree to strengthen continued government support for the investment environment . This includes fees levied by the government for administrative or economic services even if the costs of these services are higher than the market rate, it said. The government departments will also strive to provide all facilities to those who pay the fees, by way of receiving some of those fees on installments. Fees will be cut by 20 to 30 percent for a range of activities including trade and professional licenses, property ownership certificates, termination of tenancy contracts for ownership, transferring buildings into hotels or serviced apartments and other alterations to commercial buildings. Dubai s economy has been hit badly by the global downturn, with many construction projects held up. The emirate of the United Arab Emirates has outstanding debt of around $80 billion. - Reuters Iran begins construction for natural gas pipeline Construction has been started on a 1,740-kilometer pipeline from Iran through Turkey and on to consumers in Europe to carry Iranian gas, said the head of economic affairs at the Iranian embassy in Turkey on Friday. Turkey, which has announced plans to produce an annual 20.4 billion cubic meters of gas in Iran s South Pars gas field and export it over its territory, already has one gas pipeline through which it imports 28 million cubic meters of gas daily. The Pars Pipeline will go from Turkey to Greece, through Italy and on to other European countries. Another route could go through Iraq and Syria and then go through the Mediterranean to Greece and Italy, said Ahmad Noorani, the Iranian embassy s chief of economic affairs. Several natural gas pipeline projects are being planned to meet rising European consumption, among them the Nabucco pipeline project, conceived to decrease Europe s dependence on Russian gas, which makes up a quarter of its consumption. Noorani said it was also looking at shipping its gas through the Nabucco pipeline, but no contracts have yet been signed. Preliminary plans for Iran s planned 1,740-kilometer pipeline were signed in an agreement between Turkish and Iranian officials in 2007, but a final agreement has not yet been signed. Current talks are ongoing regarding the development of Aseloye phases 22, 23, and 24 in the South Pars field. Construction is continuing on the 1,740 kilometer pipeline with participation of (Turkey and Iran s) private sectors, he said. So far only portions of the pipeline in Iran have been constructed. - Reuters UAE sticking to dollar forex reserves: central bank chief The United Arab Emirates is not diversifying its foreign currency reserves away from the dollar and its real estate problems have been exaggerated, the central bank chief said on Friday. We are not diversifying our foreign currency reserves. We are sticking to the dollar, central bank Governor Sultan Nasser Al-Suweidi told Reuters on the sidelines of a finance conference in the Moroccan city of Marrakech on Friday. Asked about problems in the real estate sector in the Emirates, he said: There are reports exaggerating the problems of the sector but we are OK. He added: We are not worried about deflation. The United Arab Emirates economy is very competitive. - Reuters Kuwait reappoints oil minister in new cabinet Kuwait reappointed Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah as oil minister in the Gulf Arab state s new cabinet, state TV reported on Friday. Sheikh Ahmad, a member of the ruling family, was appointed as oil minister in February, as the first permanent oil minister since Mohammad Al-Olaim. The cabinet resigned in March to avert a request by lawmakers to question Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family and a nephew of the ruler. Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah dissolved parliament in March to end the deadlock, and reappointed Sheikh Nasser as prime minister earlier this month. -Reuters Abu Dhabi s ATIC bids for Chartered Semi stake - report Abu Dhabi s Advanced Technology Investment Co (ATIC) has made an offer for Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings s near 60 percent stake in chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor, The Business Times newspaper reported on Friday. The newspaper, which did not cite any source for the information, said ATIC, a venture capital firm owned by the Abu Dhabi government, has made the offer to buy the stake for between S$2.40 to S$2.60 a share, valuing Chartered at S$2.45 billion ($1.72 billion). A Temasek spokeswoman said it was inappropriate to comment on unsourced reports. Chartered was not immediately available for comment. Chartered has been dogged by takeover rumors for months, but no deal has materialized so far. -Reuters Qatar sets $4.1 bln to buy banks property portfolios Qatar s government has earmarked up to 15 billion riyals ($4.12 billion) to buy Qatari banks real estate portfolios, state news agency QNA reported on Thursday. The Gulf Arab state s government assigned the central bank governor to implement the plan before the end of June, the agency said, adding that the sale price would be the net book value of the real estate loans and investments. -Reuters
