Egypt paid its oil receivables to Turkey and rescheduled other receivables, the CanadaEgypt Business Council (CEBC) member, Ahmed khattab, told Daily News Egypt on Thursday during the second day of the Egyptian Building Material Summit (EBMS 2019) The abundance of oil reserves in Egypt and the Suez Canal and its role in easing trade exchange between Africa, Asia, and Europe make the local market attractive for foreign investors, he added. The last period witnessed many companies entering the Egyptian market, such as Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, and Siemens, Khattab further added. He noted that El-Dabaa nuclear power plant will attract foreign companies to open branches and invest in Egypt. The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Africa increased considerably since Egypt was elected as the next chair of the African Union, Khattab told Daily News Egypt. All these factors helped in stabilising Egypt's economy, increasing growth domestic product (GDP) to 5.2% with a forecast of 5.6% in the fiscal year 2019/20, and raising Egypt's foreign exchange reserve to over $42bn. On the other hand, Tamer Nabil, CEO of Mountain View, told Daily New Egypt that his company will launch new phases of its iCity New Cairo project, built on an area of 500 feddan, and iCity October, built on an area of 480 feddan. Thanks to cooperation with the Ministry of Housing, the company managed to complete 13 projects and will finish more two in 2019, Nabil added. He noted that they will also launch a 100-feddan administrate area in iCity New Cairo which is located in front of the entrance of the New Administrative Capital. Daily news Egypt also had the chance to speak to the Director of International Collaboration Office at the Ain Shams University, Mostafa Refat. He said that the Faculty of Engineering's credit hours in the last four years provided nine programmes with a dual degree certificate from England, Germany, and Italy. "To reach this step [dual degree certificate], professors from England, Germany, and Italy visited the faculty frequently to assess the quality of educational materials. "Now our standards are competing with international levels," Refat said, adding that they are working on curriculum development. Moreover, these professors monitor the services the university provides to students, such as health insurance, catering services, and others, he noted. There is still a gap between Egypt and developed countries in terms of higher education, however the Ain Shams University is now a leading institution in Egypt and the only public university in Egypt which provides dual degree in engineering. Day 2 of EBMS 2019 was chaired by Ahmad Shata (Mountain View), and started with a keynote speech by Mohamed Shokry El-Kholy (MSK architects), followed by Mostafa Refat who spoke on the evolution of materials science, and then Ahmed Khattab and Samar Sherif (Industrial Development Authority) made interesting presentations regarding the Egyptian economic reform and how alternative energy can augment profitability in cement industry and solve the environmental problems. The day proceeded to panel discussions and other presentations by Osama Aly Ahmed, Amira Ayoub, and others. Sabah Parvez, the managing director of Verve Management, said, "We are delighted to come and host this event in Cairo, to learn and explore the opportunities of the construction and building materials industry, and we look forward for future endeavours in the region in the coming days ahead."
