Egypt's gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to grow by at least 6.5 percent in the fiscal year that began on July 1, signalling the economy is back on track, the economic development minister said on Thursday.

The economy grew by 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009/10, up from 5.8 percent in the third quarter and 5.1 percent in the second quarter, according to government figures.

"If we are to see any indication from the growth rate, the second quarter is higher than the first, and the third is higher than the second. Then clearly we are getting back to normal," Osman Mohamed Osman said at a news conference.

"The economy will grow by 6.5 pct in 2010/11, if not more," he added.

Egyptian growth, hit by declines in tourism, foreign direct investment and Suez Canal revenue in the wake of the global downturn, fell to 4.7 percent in 2008/09 from a record 7.2 percent in 2007/08.

Other government officials have forecast that the economy in 2010/11 would grow by 5.8 to 6.0 percent.

Osman projected that total private and government investment would rise to 256 billion Egyptian pounds ($45 billion) in 2010/11 from 235.9 billion pounds in 2009/10 and around 200 billlion pounds in each of the previous two years.

He said the main economic indicators, including unemployment and inflation, showed the economy had returned to its normal rates of growth before the global downturn.

"Growth is close to 6 pct, putting us back to growth rates before the crisis," Osman said.

Urban inflation, the most widely used measure, was 10.7 percent in the year to end-June, according the government statistics agency CAPMAS. ($1=5.703 Egyptian Pound)
 

Fifteen young American religious scholars and 14 teaching assistants from Al Azhar University - one of the oldest and most influential Islamic institutions in the world - spent two weeks together this month at Georgetown University in an attempt to bridge the divide between the Muslim world and the United States.

The potpourri of young religious scholars studied the legal foundations of American democracy and religious diversity in the U.S. and met with political figures, including White House advisor Valerie Jarrett and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim American elected to Congress.

"I met people that I love, and I consider them as my brother, my sister, my mother," said Ibrahim Elbaz, 30, from Mansoura, Egypt.

The American and Egyptian students spent eight to nine hours in class each day and lived together in Georgetown dorms. The Americans included members of the Jewish, Buddhist and Christian faiths.

At the end of the first week, the Americans joined the Egyptians in prayer, deepening the friendships, said Waltrina Middleton, 30, a recent graduate of Chicago Theological Seminary.

"After that I felt like so much had been lifted, it helped us not be afraid," Middleton said, her eyes brimming with tears. "The imam opened the prayer in Arabic, but it didn't matter. They say 'Allah,' I say 'God' - you know when a prayer is being lifted up."

Margaret Cone, a Washington lawyer who conceived of the World Leadership Program in 2004, said she hoped to combat the perception among the world's Muslims that Christianity dictates American foreign policy. But she was unable to get funding in the Muslim world until President Obama delivered a speech titled "A New Beginning" in June 2009 in Cairo.

Two weeks later, Cone landed a meeting with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, who gave her a two-year, $2 million gift to stage the conference and another next year.

"The president really opened the door," Cone said. "People were willing to give things a try."

Though Al Azhar has a long history of global engagement, the university, under the direction of a new leader, the French-educated Ahmed Tayeb, feels the need to adapt its tactics in light of changing times, said Mahmoud Azab, an Al Azhar professor of Semitic languages and civilizations.

Gihan Ibrahim Shaaban, an Al Azhar professor of linguistics, said the university felt compelled to act by some Americans' perception that Islam calls for terrorism.

"We have to show the real Islam," she said.

Patrice Brodeur, an associate professor of Islam at the University of Montreal, who led sessions at the conference, said Al Azhar's international engagement may surprise some given the university's history of traditional Islamic scholarship.

Jocelyne Cesari, director of the Islam in the West Program at Harvard and Johns Hopkins universities, said in a telephone interview that she is encouraged that Al Azhar is reaching out, but she said that it is important for the United States to respond in kind.

"If it's just a one-way initiative, it will bring forth a strong narrative among Muslim society of being the one always making the effort to understand the other," she said.

Raquel Ukeles, the program's academic director, said she designed the curriculum to resolve a conflicted relationship many Muslims have with America.

"They have almost a romantic notion of America," she said. "But they perceive that these civil liberties are not extended to Muslims."

Elhosseini Elew, a 26-year-old from Al Azhar, said he was apprehensive before the trip.

"I asked myself, 'Are they ready for me as a Muslim? Is it normal?'" he said. "When I came, I was surprised."

Haitham Abdelrehim, a 24-year-old from Al Azhar, said that although many Americans do not understand Islam, they display its tenets in their actions. He said he will share his observations with those in his village.

"We were amazed at this opening and understanding and acceptance of everyone because that is what Islam preaches," he said.
 

(CNN) -- It was my first time on a Harley Davidson and I'll admit I was more than a little nervous.

I had only known for two minutes the man in whose hands (and riding ability) I was entrusting my life. It didn't help that camerawoman Raja Razek kept whizzing past at up to 160 kilometers per hour on the back of another Harley; my heart skipped several beats as I watched her contort into frighteningly precarious positions to get the best camera angles.

We were in Sharm El Sheikh in south Sinai to cover Egypt's First International HOG (Harley Owners Group) rally for April's edition of Inside the Middle East.

Ahead of the 7 a.m. start time, the sight was surreal -- 167 Harley Davidsons, a classic American icon, chrome glinting in the rays of the Sinai sunrise. A slice of pure Americana in Egypt as 200 people prepared to cruise through the 461 kilometer route.

The excitement was palpable as everyone made final tweaks, tightening bolts and wiping down mudguards; all decked out in the finest biker gear -- the ubiquitous leather jacket, bandanas, studded boots, designer sunglasses and even some chaps.

The smell: a heady cocktail of leather, exhaust fumes and asphalt, topped off with strong doses of testosterone and adrenaline.

At first we couldn't get over how un-Middle Eastern the whole thing seemed. But this faded. We could see blue glass "evil eyes" on the handlebars (good luck charms). Flags from all over the region flapped in the hot wind; bikers came from Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the UAE, and a handful of Europeans and Americans.

Then we hit the road, led by a full police escort.

"It's the closest you can get to flying," says Indjy Ghattas, a young Egyptian woman who is not only one of the few women riders in the country but is also the Harley Davidson dealer in Egypt and the organizer of the whole event. "It's the sound of engine, the vibration, the feel of it."

The roaring sound of a large pack of Harleys revving up and hitting the pavement is rather intimidating for the uninitiated. You don't hear it as much as feel it coming up through the ground.

We snaked along the winding road out of the city and into the ancient land of Moses. The terrain is vast, rugged and beautiful; the mountains streaked with lines of green, yellow, red and black.

Fifty-five-year old Egyptian-American Sherif Begermi is a veteran biker and looks the part -- white goatee, denim jacket with patches from various Harley events, and a stars and stripes bandana.

"When we first started riding [in Egypt], people didn't know what to make of us," says Begermi. "Police would stop us to ask us 'what are you?' Not 'who are you?' but 'what are you'?"

As we rode through Sinai's villages, I'm not sure the stunned but amused-looking onlookers knew what to make of us either. Sheepherders, women walking their kids out of school, men coming out of mosques. Everyone stopped in their tracks and smiled in wonder. A few waved.

Even a herd of camels on the side of the road stared in confusion at the sight of these strange shiny monsters roaring through the terrain.

At a stop for gasoline, we caught up with some of the riders.

Lana Medawar rode on the back of her husband's bike all the way from Beirut -- a 1200 kilometer trek. "I'm planning to learn how to ride myself, not only be a passenger behind my husband."

Ghattas says the passion is slowly catching on with women. "When I have a woman buying a bike I'm like the happiest person on earth."

Mohamed Fahmy rides with daughter Sherifa in the backseat in a pink Harley T-shirt. Asked if she plans to ride, both smile as dad says "Soon - hopefully not too soon... She wants to take my bike."

In contrast to the stereotypical image of HOG riders as outlaws, this event feels like a family affair and HOG enthusiasts say it is part of what makes Harley unique.

"Harley Davidson is a culture, it's a community," says Ahmed Mourad as he pays a gas station attendant. "Other motorcycles are only motorcycles."

Swiss-Egyptian Sherif Loutfi says he rode Japanese bikes (what HOG riders like to call "riceburners") for a decade but switched to the Harley three years ago. "They call it a mid-life crisis," jokes Loutfi.

Halfway through the ride, we stop for lunch near of Saint Catherine's monastery at the foot of biblical Mount Sinai and everyone takes a much-needed reprieve from the kidney-rattling ride.

Leather jackets come off to reveal back braces. Conversations turn to day-jobs. Most of the riders are "weekend warriors," spending most of their days as upper-middle class businessmen; jewelry dealers, hotel managers, bankers and other white-collar professionals.

As fun as the ride is, one must take note of the fact that this is a hobby for the well-off. Even the cheapest Harley costs more than the average Egyptian makes in a year. Many riders we met own more than one bike and acknowledge the fact that, financially, this is a relatively exclusive club.

But Ghattas says Harley culture shouldn't be measured in dollars. "It's not a cheap hobby but it's not as expensive as people think."

"It's more than just an expensive toy," she says. "It's a dream."

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"The president is in good health and has been given a clean bill of health by his doctors, following his recent gallbladder surgery in Germany," Information Minister Anas El Fekky said in a statement to Reuters.

"We obviously understand the interest in this issue given Egypt's geopolitical weight, and the president's role as a force for stability in the Middle East. However, the media reports published on the president's health are based on nothing more than rumor and speculation without any factual basis whatsoever, including a recent report citing anonymous intelligence sources."

An article in The Washington Times on Sunday said Mubarak was thought by most Western intelligence agencies to be suffering from terminal cancer affecting his stomach and pancreas.

It cited a central European intelligence officer as saying the 82-year-old leader could have less than a year to live.

Rumours about Mubarak's health have rattled markets in the past because he has no designated successor. He has not picked a vice president, the post he held before taking office in 1981.

The president has returned to a regular schedule of meetings with visiting officials since having surgery at Germany's Heidelberg University Hospital in March. On Sunday he met Palestinian and Israeli leaders and other officials.

He also appeared on Egyptian television on Tuesday attending a graduation ceremony for the Egyptian police academy. Television footage showed Mubarak standing to pin medals on graduates.

The Washington Times report was the latest of several reports questioning the president's health.

The Economist published an extensive report this week on Egypt which described his health as "not good".

Egypt dismissed last week a report in Lebanon's As-Safir newspaper that Mubarak would travel abroad for treatment.

El Fekky said Mubarak was maintaining a full schedule, citing his weekend meetings and recent trips to Algeria and France. Mubarak would meet Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Wednesday and would be making a speech to mark Egypt's national day, he added.

Stockbrokers in Egypt said they had not heard any new speculation about Mubarak's health on Tuesday, but recent reports could be putting some pressure on the market.

Mubarak has not said if he will run for a sixth six-year term in a presidential election in 2011. If he does not, his politician son Gamal, 46, is seen as a likely successor. Both Mubarak and his son deny any such plan.

http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFLDE66J1EJ20100720?sp=true

For the second year in a row, the Ministry of Family and Population launched a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers posed by underage as well as summer marriages, also referred to as temporary marriages, in the 6th of October governorate.

The awareness campaign will target young girls, students and families in the villages of Abou El-Nomros, El-Badrasheen and El-Hawamdeya through informal teaching methods and utilizing media outlets, according to a press statement issued by the ministry.

In the statement, Minister Moshira Khattab said that combating underage marriages is essential for Egypt's fight against child trafficking and abuse.

Khattab also said that one of the reasons behind the ministry's decision to kick off a second round of this campaign were the positive results of last year's effort which she said spurred a social movement.

The ministry will consult local councils and non-governmental organizations in the targeted areas.

Summer marriages typically see wealthy older men pick a young bride from a pool of potential girls, a process facilitated by a marriage broker in exchange for large amounts of money acquired by both the facilitator and the girl’s parents. The marriage then ends when the visiting husband returns home after the summer.

"We are in dire need for such a campaign. Summer marriages are one of the main forms of violence against women, especially underage women," managing director of the Egyptian Association for Family Development Hala Abdel-Qader told Daily News Egypt.

"Such marriages are a mere business deal; they disregard social and personal compatibility," she said, adding that in many cases these women are forced to marry more than once.

"It takes away from the idea that marriage is everlasting," added Abdel-Qader, who hailed the ministry for its initiative.

Egypt embraced amendments to its Child Laws in 2008, setting the minimum age for marriage at 18 — instead of 16 — and criminalizing female genital mutilation, a practice that was considered the norm across most rural areas.

On the effect of the amendments, Abdel-Qader said, "It is hard to determine exact figures in such a short time, but what we saw when we visited villages is a sense of fear."

Abdel-Qader explained that penalizing those who breach the law instills a sense of fear among Egyptians and hence encourages them not to marry off their children at a young age.

In May, a 66-year-old Saudi Arabian national was sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia for marrying a 14-year-old Egyptian girl. The marriage broker who facilitated the marriage was also penalized.

The court sentenced the lawyer who forged the common law (urfi) marriage contract to two years in prison, while the minor’s parents were handed down a one-year suspended sentence.

"Such campaigns must exist alongside the new laws," Abdel-Qader said.

Last month, the US State Department published its 10th annual Trafficking in Persons Report describing Egypt as a source, transit, and destination country for women and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution.

And on summer marriages, the report said, "Wealthy men from the Gulf reportedly travel to Egypt to purchase ‘temporary’ or ‘summer marriages’ with Egyptian females, including girls who are under the age of 18."

Last month marked the first anniversary of President Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world in Cairo where he sought "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect"

However, the hope that greeted President Obama's speech has turned into disappointment as people realized that turning promises into reality is not easy to achieve. While he should be congratulated on his efforts to change the discourse of US policy towards the Muslim world, it is clear that people expect more than simply statements from him.

It is vital to rekindle the new spirit that accompanied President Obama's speech and to discuss together how we can transform it into practical programs that bridge the concept of dialogue with real and affective partnership between East and West.

I believe there are several ways that can help forge a constructive partnership between the Muslim world and the US. The Islam we were taught in our youth is one that calls for peace and mercy. The Prophet Muhammad told us: "Those who show mercy are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Show mercy to those who are on earth and the One in the heavens will show mercy to you."

Furthermore, the Qur'an teaches us: "O people we have created you from a single male and female and divided you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another." When God says "to know one another" He did not mean in order to kill one another. All religions have forbidden the killing of innocents. Rather we have been ordered to cooperate in a constructive manner.

For over a thousand years ordinary Muslims have worshiped God, engaged in developing their society and the human civilization, and have sought to cultivate good moral character. They have engaged, absorbed and assimilated a multiplicity of civilizations such as the Persians, Indians, Chinese, and Greeks, into our cultural and intellectual life. We benefited from all of them as well as contributing to them.

Such a humanitarian and cosmopolitan worldview does not allow us to consider ourselves as superior to other people. And since our civilization is concerned with humanity, it brings together both the spiritual and the material. We do not hate life nor do we seek to create social imbalance, and anyone who engages in this has gone against the teachings of our religion and what we have been taught as being worthy of good moral character.

The need for dialogue between people of different faiths and cultures is far greater today in view of the problems faced in the relations between peoples and communities. Dialogue stems from the recognition of identities and specificities, avoiding at the same time that their assertion turn into hostility towards others leading to bloody borders among religions and cultures. Dialogue is based upon the respect for religious plurality and cultural diversity. Dialogue is not about trying to defeat others, but about understanding and learning about them.

The Qur'an insists that the world's beauty lies in its racial and religious pluralism, otherwise God would not have created it so (see Qur'an, 10:99 and 5:48).

Sheikh Ali Gomaa is the Grand Mufti of Egypt.

A farmer in northern Egypt says his cow has given birth to a two-headed calf that he calls a "divine miracle."

Sobhy el-Ganzoury said Saturday it took two hours and much pulling to deliver the rare calf. He said the difficult birth has weakened the calf's legs.

El-Ganzoury said the veterinarian informed him that the calf, which was born this week, is now in stable condition and is expected to survive. He said he intends to keep the animal as a reminder that "God is able to do anything."

The calf still can't stand up because of its heavy heads and weak legs, and is being fed her mother's milk with a baby bottle.

The Egyptian Pavilion opened in May with the theme "Cairo, Mother of the World: A City that Keeps Reinventing Itself".    Inside the modern-looking black and white structure, visitors are treated to a series of artifacts and exhibits which highlight both the country's ancient past and the current role of Cairo as the center of the Arab world. 

The pavilion will be featured among the various national exhibits on July 23, which is also Egyptian National Day.

Eight important antiquities were transported to the site from Cairo, a rarity that is sure to delight dedicated Egyptologists and casual viewers alike.  The treasures on display include a statue of the pharaoh Amenhoteph IV, the father of Tutankhamun, and the Mask of Sheshonq II, another Egyptian king.

Films, music recordings, and other various objects are used to demonstrate the development of Cairo over the centuries.  Visitors may view exhibits on technological and economic progress in Egypt, as well as the vast changes which have occurred in Egyptian society since ancient times.

More information about the Egyptian Pavilion may be found on the official site for Shanghai Expo 2010:

en.expo2010.cn/c/en_gj_tpl_86.htm#gk

For more about "Chasing Mummies," please visit HISTORY.com

Egypt and Sudan are on a collision course with a number of African states who in May signed an agreement to alter historic Nile water sharing arrangements. Egypt and Sudan have both rejected the agreement.

"In continuation of Egypt's successful move towards Nile Basin states, especially Sudan, the Egyptian government has allocated over $300 million as a non-refundable grant to the South Sudan government," Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasreddin Allam told Reuters.

The grant will be used for building potable water complexes, drilling 30 wells for underground water, setting up river ports and upgrading electricity and water networks, he said.

South Sudan has a separate government and will vote in January whether to become a separate state. It has not staked out an independent position on the new Nile basin agreement.

Egypt, already threatened by climate change, is closely watching hydro-electric dams in East Africa. The river is vital for all nine countries through which it flows.

The original colonial-era agreement gives Egypt the power to veto dams and other water projects in upstream countries. Those states, desperate for development and access to more water to support economic growth levels, say that is unfair.

© Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved

In conjunction with Alexandria’s recent ban on smoking in government buildings and public spaces, the new tax hopes to curb smoking in the Arab world's most populous nation and help fund health and social service programs.

The increase, which took effect July 1, was approved in late May. The tax raises the price of cigarettes by as much as 40 percent, while a 100 percent duty is added to tobacco used in shisha, or water pipes.

Health Ministry officials say the new tax is expected to generate about $345 million in additional revenue.

World Lung Foundation regional spokesman Mohamed Ghamrawy says, “International experience has proven that when you increase (cigarette prices) by about 10 percent, it may help decrease the number of smokers by 7 percent.”

“We hope that it will help a lot of smokers start to quit.”

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For more information, please contact Anjali Reddy at 202-777-3508 or areddy@clsdc.com.

This material is distributed by Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates on behalf of
the Egyptian Press and Information Office. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
 

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif also held talks with Massoud Barzani, and stressed during his meeting with the Iraqi leader Egypt’s complete support for all political factions, as well as its commitment to a unified Iraqi government capable of achieving stability and development.

Within the context of supporting Iraq and the continuous collaboration between Egypt and Iraq, PM Nazif discussed Egypt’s efforts to increase trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, and especially noted the visit of an Egyptian delegation to Kurdistan in order to study possible environmental and development projects as well as investment opportunities. Egypt’s Minister of Investment Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, who will be heading that delegation, also met with Barzani and confirmed that there were a number of Egyptian companies studying various investment opportunities in Kurdistan.
 

Dr. Hazem Abdelazim, CEO of Egypt's Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) received the award on behalf of Egypt during a glittering ceremony held at the Chateau Du Lac, Brussels.

More than 100 high-level executives and outsourcing professionals attended this inaugural ceremony, hosted by the European Outsourcing Association (EOA).

Commenting on this achievement, H.E. Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology said: "This award recognizes the outstanding progress Egypt has made in the last year as a global outsourcing destination. The country's credibility is going from strength to strength amongst European companies and has put its mark on the map of favored global services locations. We recognize the increasing role that Egypt can play in the fast-paced global ICT industry and we are advancing steadily on the way to position the country as a hub for IT innovation and entrepreneurship."

The awards recognize the success of organizations in outsourcing projects and raise awareness of the importance of best practice in outsourcing.

Commenting on Egypt's success at the awards, Martyn Hart, EOA Chairman said: "Egypt stood out for its multilingual capabilities and developments made to its infrastructure. It has proven itself to be both a strong player for European outsourcers and a gateway to the Middle East and Africa."

Through the support of ITIDA and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Egypt has shown ongoing improvement in the ICT sector.

The results of these developments have been reflected through numerous reports, with Egypt most recently being ranked sixth most attractive offshoring destination worldwide and number one in EMEA according to the A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index(TM).

The growing list of multinationals investing and expanding operations in Egypt, including Stream Global Services, Vodafone, EMC, Teleperformance, IBM, Microsoft, SQS, Oracle and Valeo, is further testament to the country's unwavering efforts to establish itself as the outsourcing destination of choice across Europe and beyond.
Notes to editors:

The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) is a governmental entity affiliated to Egypt's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

It is responsible for growing and developing Egypt's position as a leading global outsourcing location by attracting foreign direct investment to the industry and maximizing the exports of IT services and applications.

Located in the heart of the modern business environment at Smart Village, the six hundred acre business park on the outskirts of Cairo, ITIDA is a self sustainable entity that drives the IT industry in Egypt and raises awareness among the Egyptian people of the benefits and use of ICT to advance socio-economic welfare of the whole community.

Source: Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA)

His goal is to help spark the Arab world’s own age of reason, though he acknowledges that there is a long way to go.

“We can defeat the forces of hate and confrontation and build through education, science and culture better understanding for our future,” he said at the opening ceremony of a recent conference at the library.

Mr. Serageldin has fashioned himself as the anti-Islamist, a self-declared “secularist when it comes to the civil state,” a calling that does not endear him to the conservative majority of this society. But he is comfortable in his role as the founding director of the library, the modern successor to the ancient library of Alexandria.

He uses his position to counter what he has called the “current drift toward an intolerant, pseudoreligious fanaticism.” He defends and promotes women’s rights, saying “no issue looms larger,” and calls for freedom of expression as “the foundation of self-fulfillment.” He opposes the Muslim Brotherhood, the popular Islamic movement, and has resisted pressure to allow the creation of a mosque or prayer room within the library itself.

And one of his core messages, aimed at his own community, is that Muslim societies today need to learn from Muslim leaders of the past, like Ibn al-Nafis, the 13th-century religious scholar, philosopher and scientist who called for tolerance in hearing out opposing views.

“How different these enlightened voices from the past sound compared to the frenetic ranting and condemnations of everything that is new and different that we see and hear everywhere in the Arab and Muslim worlds today,” he wrote in one of a series of pamphlets issued by the library.

His critics in Egypt’s Islamist circles note ruefully that Mr. Serageldin, for all his professed devotion to tolerance and freedom of thought, rarely, if ever, invites them to his conferences. “You find representatives from the left and the nationalists, and of course many of those who are loyal to the current regime,” said Muhammad Morsy, the former head of the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in Parliament. “I am never invited, not me or anyone like me.”

Mr. Serageldin, 66, grew up in Cairo and graduated in 1964 with a bachelor of science degree from Cairo University. He earned a doctorate in planning from Harvard in 1972 and joined the World Bank that year, passing the next several decades there. He has received 26 honorary doctorates from universities around the world; he is a knight of France’s Legion of Honor and a member of Egypt’s upper house of Parliament.

But Mr. Serageldin was lured back to Egypt from Washington by the opportunity to help build the new library.

“The ancient library was about openness of knowledge, no taboos, questioning everything, ” Mr. Serageldin said as he strolled, hands in pockets, through the soaring 2,000-seat reading room in the library’s main hall. “Now, I would hope very much that our own society would benefit a lot from that.”

HE knows well that his views are among a distinct minority here in Egypt and around the region, and that his call for freedom of expression runs up against authoritarian systems that stifle public discourse.

He has also been called arrogant and condescending, and accused of exceeding the bounds of his actual expertise. During the closing ceremony of a recent conference, he publicly apologized to Rashad Hussain, President Obama’s special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, saying, “I spoke to him in a tone that appeared to him to be dismissive, and I apologize for that.”

But he also says that being unpopular in the more neutral sense is O.K. because throughout history great change was often instigated by the few, and then embraced by the many.

“We who believe in democracy and in liberty are going to win,” he said in a speech in 2007. “The statists and the Islamists are standing against the irrevocable march of history.”

For the sliver of liberal intellectuals in Egypt who bemoan their nation’s inexorable slide from a cultural and intellectual capital, Mr. Serageldin’s library is a rare bright spot. He has hired and trained a staff of about 2,200 and keeps the doors open seven days a week until 7 p.m. He said he received about 70 percent of the library’s $20 million annual budget from the government, raising the rest in donations, and has accumulated a $23 million endowment.

He has also helped define the library as a learning complex, with a planetarium, art exhibitions, a children’s learning center, a virtual reality chamber and a museum chronicling the life of President Anwar el-Sadat. The library also operates as a cultural pulpit for Mr. Serageldin and like-minded scholars and regional leaders.

“Dr. Serageldin debunks the myth about Islam with the insightfulness of a social psychologist and firmness of a school principal,” said Najmedin Meshkati, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California and a Jefferson science fellow with the State Department who attended a recent conference at the library on “Initiatives in Education, Science and Culture Towards Enhanced U.S.-Muslim Countries Collaborations.”

In signature fashion, the conference was a forum for opposing views, at times exposing tensions between American and Arab participants. But in explaining the value of debating ideas, rather than stifling discussion, Mr. Serageldin addressed his fellow Muslims.

“Do you think that in the last 1,400 years, there were not books attacking Islam everywhere, there were colonial powers everywhere, and despite that Islam has spread throughout the world,” he said. “So let us not be afraid of opinions and ideas; we can fight ideas with ideas.”

And to the West, he asked that Muslims not be treated as outsiders.

“The Muslims are here; they are in your own countries; they are your own citizens; they are the children of immigrants. You have to recognize the fact that Islam is part of the West today. It is no longer a force that is outside of it,” he said.

WHEN the morning session was completed, Mr. Serageldin gave visiting officials a tour of the library, obviously delighting in both what it is and what he hopes it will become. If there is one thing that Mr. Serageldin is not, it is modest. As he walked through the halls, past the art exhibits, sculptures, supercomputers and computer archives, the hundreds of computer terminals at desks, one visitor asked, “Is this all your doing?”

To which he replied, with a nod, “Yes.”

Around the corner, Ahmed Mazhar, an accountant, was touring the library with his wife and three children when he spotted Mr. Serageldin, whom he recognized from his television appearances.

“It is good that he is open-minded like this,” Mr. Mazhar said. “At this particular point, Egypt needs people like him, people who are well educated and who entice everyone else to be the same.”

Mona El-Naggar contributed reporting.

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• Sustained effort
• That respects the authentic spirit of Arabic and Egyptian culture, and
• That responds to emerging needs and trends.
  
  The best way to accomplish these objectives is to rely on the entrepreneurial instincts of the Egyptian people and to offer some assistance to Egypt's entrepreneurial classes, not least to those who will take advantage of its vibrant ICT sector. And so, let me speak briefly of the U.S. initiatives and of the economic interactions of our two great countries.
  
  As President Obama has said many times, "Open trade creates jobs and improves the lives of all." When the he spoke at Cairo University last June, he emphasized the Administration's commitment to improving America's relationship with the Middle East. The President discussed his vision of promoting stronger partnerships between business leaders and social entrepreneurs in the United States, Muslim-majority countries, and Muslim communities around the world.
  Then, in April of this year, the White House hosted a Summit on Entrepreneurship, in which attendees from more than 50 countries and 5 continents discussed how to deepen ties between the U.S. and the Muslim world. At the Summit, Secretary Clinton announced that the Egyptian Global Entrepreneur Program - the result of months of collaboration between the U.S. and Egyptian governments and business communities - would be the first pilot Global Entrepreneur Program, or GEP, realizing the President's vision.
  
  This program, about which I will say more, is also a reflection of the leadership and entrepreneurial insights of our friend and colleague Lorraine Hariton and the staff of the Economics Bureau's Office of Commercial and Business Affairs. Entrepreneurs are the heart of all thriving economies. When innovators and entrepreneurs can relatively easily turn their ideas into businesses, we know that jobs and economic opportunity follow closely behind. Entrepreneurs are a powerful force for change. They improve the business climate in their own countries and champion necessary policy reforms. And they improve practices in global markets. In the United States, we have always relied upon entrepreneurs to be a primary engine of our economic growth. Firms less than five years old-many of which are considered small businesses-have accounted for nearly all increased employment in America's private sector over the last three decades.
  
  Similarly, commerce and industry necessarily have the central role in increasing employment opportunities and thus in helping people achieve a better life and ensuring future stability throughout the Middle East. Of course, currently in the U.S., as elsewhere in the world, we are just now emerging from the worst economic crisis any of us have ever seen. Too many people who want work still can't find it. To replace the jobs we have lost and to create new, better paying jobs, the Obama administration is taking steps to grow our economy. Central to these efforts is a renewed focus on expanding international trade.
  
  It's worth noting here that trade continues to be one of the most important aspects of U.S.-Egypt economic relations. The United States and Egypt are important trading partners. In 2009, the U.S.-Egypt trade volume reached $7.3 billion. The U.S. is also a large investor in Egypt. Our foreign direct investment reached nearly $9 billion in 2009. American-owned businesses alone have created 1,000,000 jobs in Egypt. They have created several times that many across the Arab world. And they have generated billions of dollars of economic activity.
  
  Egypt is well-known for its active and ambitious network of private sector, governmental, and civil society organizations devoted to strengthening and encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit in Egypt. As several of you may be aware, U.S. Embassy Cairo has developed a plan to enact the Global Entrepreneur Program in Egypt as one of the pilot countries for this new worldwide initiative. The GEP/Egypt plan outlines four components to focus our efforts which include: the Supporting Entrepreneurship in Egypt program, Partnerships with Entrepreneurship Associations & Key Actors, U.S. Government Programs Supporting Entrepreneurship, and Entrepreneurship Outreach Activities.
  The Supporting Entrepreneurship in Egypt program will bring in a senior level Lead Entrepreneur to head a small office to support and promote entrepreneurship, innovation, and business development in Egypt for micro, small, and medium sized enterprises. Additionally, Embassy Cairo's Entrepreneurship Working Group maintains a wide network of associations and organizations for partnering on entrepreneurship. These relationships will be maintained and cultivated to enhance our outreach and program activities for the highest possible impact.
  
  The broader U.S. Government also has a number of programs supporting entrepreneurship.
  
  USAID/Egypt has multiple activities that benefit entrepreneurs, including business development, marketing, access to finance, and facilitating business registration and licensing. The Smart Services Business Center is a commercial registry in Alexandria established through USAID support which introduced streamlined procedures that reduce the red tape that businesses encounter when obtaining business licenses. This one-stop shop has reduced the time required for business licensing from 365 to 3 to 4 days. Other governorates are planning emulate the SSBC model; I'm told that one has already been established in Cairo.
  
  Microfinance programs provide loans to entrepreneurs, with amounts ranging from very small ($250) for startups to approximately $12,000 for more established businesses. USAID directly supports microfinance in Upper Egypt and is working with other microfinance institutions on potential credit guarantees to enable them to access bank loans for additional lending capital.
  
  The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Commercial Law Development Program, and the Middle East Partnership Initiative are examples of other U.S. government programs which contribute to entrepreneurship capacity building in addition to USAID.
  
  I'm pleased to tell you that Embassy Cairo has already begun integrating entrepreneurship outreach into its broader public outreach programs. High-level visitors are briefed on the Entrepreneurship Summit before their substantive meetings and press appearances. Furthermore, non-entrepreneurship specific programming is being re- purposed to include entrepreneurial topics, including but not limited to recent alumni career development programs.
  
  Ambassador Scobey's team plans to make smart use of information technology and social networking tools to celebrate the successes of our entrepreneurship partnerships. Facebook, Twitter and the Embassy website will highlight successful examples of USG support for Egyptian entrepreneurship, especially in science and technology areas. As more successful examples of entrepreneurship supported by U.S. partnerships emerge, you can expect to see them profiled prominently on all of these social networking platforms.
  
  We recognize the importance of leveraging information technology to maximize our outreach and effectiveness. To help form our thinking along these lines, the Administration conducted listening sessions with more than 80 NGOs, technology companies and foundations. Out of this came the Kansas to Cairo concept, intended to catalyze and expand partnerships that enable young Americans to communicate with Muslims around the world using a variety of technologies. This will be accomplished through a two-tiered approach involving the expansion of existing online programs and the development of innovative trans- lingual online communications technologies. And here's another way we're leveraging technology:
  
  The State Department is finalizing a cooperative agreement with the Civilian Research and Development Foundation to create a Maghreb Digital Library, which would bring tens of thousands of science publications to hundreds of thousands of researchers and young scientists.
  
  Although these specific initiatives I have mentioned represent progress, the new beginning the President called for was not simply a checklist of initiatives mentioned in the speech; it reflected the President's and the Secretary's commitment to a new way of engaging with Muslim communities around the world. We are laying the foundation for a sustained effort, that respects the authentic spirit of Arabic and Egyptian culture, and that responds to emerging needs and trends.
  
  In closing, I thank you for your contributions to our common economic growth and prosperity.

END.

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“The South is associated with hospitality and warmth, which is a shared value structure in much of the Middle East,” he says in an interview. “They’re societies that put great value in terms of family and extended family. There’s a natural demeanor of receptiveness, of people being welcoming, being open. This is a common issue between Southerners and Middle Easterners.”

Shoukry, a career diplomat who was named Egypt’s ambassador in 2008, came to The Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge in April for a reception and dinner with the Middle East Council of the Carolinas. It was part of a two-day trip to Charlotte that took him to UNC Charlotte for a lively question-and-answer session with students and to a lunch hosted by the World Affairs Council of Charlotte.

In his appearances, he stressed the strong historic bonds between the U.S. and Middle East, and said that the reality of Egyptian life might contrast with American’s perceptions of the greater Middle East.

“It’s important for Americans to know that this generation in Egypt grew up admiring the U.S.,” he says. “It’s a very receptive society and one that harbors no ill feelings toward Americans, but it more likely to pamper them.”

Other stereotypes of the Middle East don’t apply to Egypt, he says: Unlike Palestine or Iraq, Egypt is safe. And the role of women in Egypt is “quite progressive.”

Misconceptions also cut the other way. When he’s home in Egypt, he says he tells his countrymen that America is different from what’s depicted on “Dallas” and “Desperate Housewives.” In Egypt, films, television and other media create a caricature of the U.S. as an uncaring, materialistic society with “liberal morals,” he says.
Shoukry has traveled throughout the U.S., though this was his first visit to Charlotte. He’s pleased, he says, that the region seems to have a growing contingent of Middle Easterners. It also has commercial ties to Egypt.

Shoukry, 58, has lived with one foot in Egypt and one in the rest of the world even before joining his country’s diplomatic corps in 1976. His father was a diplomat, too, with stints in Washington, D.C., and the Philippines. He learned to like the lifestyle and enjoys representing his country. At UNC Charlotte, he seemed at ease answering questions from students – typically with a smile and in great detail – on a wide range of topics, including Yemini extremism, Indian-Pakistani relations and nuclear disarmament.

But serving in Egypt’s top diplomatic post can make for long days. Some mornings, his colleagues in Cairo – either oblivious or indifferent to the six-hour time difference with Washington – call as early as 5 a.m. From then on, it’s often a series of meetings or speeches, as well as overseeing a diplomatic staff of about 250.

It’s sometimes difficult to attract the attention of the right policymakers in Washington, he says. And his assignment is open-ended. Unlike, say, negotiating a treaty, being the Egyptian ambassador to the U.S. has no natural point at which the job is finished. Each day brings new issues.

Typically, days end with a dinner. On an average week, he and his wife host two dinners and attend another three or four.

“It’s a challenge to keep off the weight,” he jokes.

To read the original article, please click here.
 

For more information, please contact Lindsay Mize at (202)777-3540 or lmize@clsdc.com.

This material is distributed by Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates on behalf of the Egyptian Press & Information Office. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.

A new generation of designers infusing traditional craftsmanship with modern design are marking Egypt out as a future style capital.

The Middle Eastern country has a long tradition of skilled craftsmen working in family-run furniture workshops.

But for decades their output has been characterized by a style known locally as "Louis Farouk," after the Egyptian king who popularized it during the 20th century.

An imitation of the ostentatious "Louis XV" style, named after the 18th century French king, which features elaborate decorations, heavily gilded, intricate carvings, and richly patterned fabrics.

Young Egyptian designers are now leaving behind the excesses of the past for something more restrained -- and much more hip.

Last week, Cairo staged a design exhibition, curated by Italian designer Paola Navone, that could help establish the city as the "Milan of the Middle East."

During the +20 Egypt Design event, international firms such as Alessi exhibited next to their Egyptian counterparts, showing domestic designers can hold their own alongside Europe's finest.

Shahira Fahmy is an architect and product designer whose work was exhibited at +20. She told CNN Egyptian designers have started moving away from imitating foreign styles and are developing their own vision.

"You would find different styles that were all imitations, but now the environment has changed and you can do something new, that is challenging even to the West," she said.

During the 1990s, designers were heavily influenced by late 19th century movement, Art Nouveau, typified by curvilinear designs and floral motifs. Other popular influences included the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Fahmy told CNN.

There's now a demand for contemporary emergent designers to produce something new.

The construction boom in Dubai and elsewhere in the Middle East had been a catalyst for experimentation, she explained.

According to Fahmy, the boom brought in foreign architects whose progressive designs have led to an appreciation of quality design and increased acceptance of modern styles.

"Architecture, interiors and furniture have all changed in the past 10 years," she said. "There's now a demand for contemporary emergent designers to produce something new. They don't want the classical things that were happening 10 years ago."

Karim Mekhtigian is the creative brains behind Cairo-based design studio, Alchemy. He said Egyptian design is starting to develop its own identity.

"I don't know if we have a distinctive style yet, but I'm sure we can have a specific story to tell which comes from this region," he told CNN.

"Culturally, Egypt is very rich with a lot of different elements, so there is a great potential in design terms."

Having lived and worked in Paris for 15 years, Mekhtigian returned to Cairo 10 years ago and found he was influenced by his surroundings and daily life in Cairo.

"We are living in a geographical place which is multi-layered -- a mixture of cultures, of religions, of everything, and it's one of our sources of inspiration," he said. "It doesn't come out intentionally, but I believe it's there."

Fahmy also uses Cairo as a reference point for her modern designs.

"I am influenced by Cairo's rich and complex heritage, but [I] try to represent that in a new and contemporary language that is representative of the time the product or building was designed," she said.

Both designers say the recent success of Egyptian furniture design is partly down to the work of the Egyptian Furniture Export Council (EFEC), which organized +20.

Chairman Ahmed Helmy told CNN that EFEC has been working to modernize Egypt's furniture industry, which directly employs 600,000 people.

He said efforts to increase production capacity, improve quality control and introduce new machinery at factories have helped increase the value of the furniture industry's exports from $46 million in 2004 to $320 million in 2009, according to EFEC figures.

The new wave of Egyptian design is still be in its infancy, and for Mekhtigian that's part of the attraction.

"Design in Europe is almost saturated," he said. "One of the reasons I came back [to Cairo] is there's a great potential here. Everything has to be done, has to be designed, which is not the case in Europe.

"Egypt is starting from scratch. It is exciting and we are trying to create a new story, not to repeat something. We are fighting not to do the same as Europe. We need to tell you our story."

"It's a big public health problem," says the University of Alexandria’s Dr. Hassan Salam, who is heading research supporting the change in policy. "Smoking in Egypt is very common, unfortunately. Out of every 10 men, four smoke and more and more women are smoking now.

In Alexandria, local authorities first plan to enforce the existing law that prohibits smoking in government buildings. Within two years, the ban will be extended to include cafes.

Egypt hopes smoking rates will decline and that Alexandria will serve as an example for the rest of the country.

The read the original article, please click here.

For more information, please contact Lindsay Mize at (202)777-3540 or lmize@clsdc.com.

This material is distributed by Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates on behalf of the Egyptian Press & Information Office. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
 

It is indeed a pleasure to be here today among this distinguished gathering. Allow me first to express my deepest appreciation to the National Academy of Sciences for making today’s event possible.

We are gathered today to celebrate the first anniversary of President Obama’s Cairo Speech, in which he emphasized , among other things, the importance of science as a tool for the progress of societies, and building bridges of understanding and cooperation among nations.

The President’s perspective in this regard is one that we fully agree with, not only because sciences are the basic tool for development, but most importantly because of their role in developing the potential of the people and their capabilities.

In this context, Egypt has undertaken in 2006 an ambitious and comprehensive strategy to ensure that the promotion of science is given the adequate support and is provided with the necessary resources.
The main goals of the strategy could be summarized in the following:

1- By 2020 we should have had a 50% increase in the graduates from science fields.
2- Research related industries and their main institutions will be economically self-efficient and capable of better competing in a globalized environment.
3- Applied research in Egypt will be the main tool to develop our economy and society.

This strategy, which was prepared by the relevant governmental agencies in consultation with more than 300 scientists, has a working budget of billions of Egyptian Pounds. It has three main pillars which focus on modernizing the educational curricula, developing the capabilities of students and educators, and building the necessaryeducational infrastructure.

The strategy also aims at linking the development of scientific research and higher education through strengthening research capacity, improving the quality of scientific research, fostering innovation and promoting public understanding of science.

Hence, Egypt has established in the past few years a national agency for accreditation in order to boost the quality of research and teaching, and ensure their conformity with international standards. We have also created the Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST), and the Science and Technological Development Fund (STDF), in order to modernize academic curricula and improve the research-related infrastructure.

In parallel, we have also established eleven new universities with a science focus, in addition to a distance learning university and four technical colleges. Egyptian research institutions are developing exchange and cooperation programs with agencies and Egyptian scientists overseas.

The government has worked on increasing the networking between the Egyptian universities and research centers with their American, European, and Asian counterparts. The government has also established strong partnerships with the private sector, civil society organizations, and international partners in order to maximize the output of the strategy.

Egypt is also working to increase the accessibility of the general public to information, as it subsidized the internet and it agreed with a number of local and international corporations to provide computers software and hardware at an affordable price. As a result, we have today more than 13 million internet users.

Furthermore, based on an agreement with a number of European and Asian governments in the context of the Egyptian decade of science, the past three years were designated as joint science years with EU member states, India and Japan. 2011 will be the first Egypt / U.S. science year, and this will mark a long history of scientific cooperation between Egypt and the United States, which is manifested through, but not limited to, our 1995 joint technological agreement, the scholarship programs, and the existing collaboration between Egyptian universities and their American counterparts.

Our plan has also an important regional component, as Egypt is investing in the technologic infrastructure of its African and Arab neighbors. It is also currently undergoing a project to link research centers of the African continent and MENA region with their Egyptian counterparts, and with other institutions all over the globe.

However, this does not mean we have passed the bottleneck, but rather that we are aware of the challenges in front of us and that we are not saving any effort to confront them. We believe that through our cooperation with our international partners, foremost among them the United States, we will successfully deal with the United States is greatly valued and is regarded as a true testament to the friendship of our peoples.

On this note, it gives me great pleasure to introduce one of the pioneers and symbols of the cooperation between Egypt and the United States, and a living proof of the potential and capabilities of the Egyptian people. He finished his undergraduate education in Egypt, as well as his BS and MS degrees in Chemistry, after which he came to the United States where he was awarded his PhD. He is the Linus Pauling Chair Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He is also the Director of the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology at Caltech, and served as the Director of Caltech's Laboratory for Molecular Sciences. He is a member of the Egyptian Supreme Council on Science and Technology.

In 1999, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering developments in femtoscience. In that same year, he received Egypt's highest state honor, the Grand Collar of the Nile. Most recently, he became a member of President Barack Obama's Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Other international awards include the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (1993) awarded to him by the Wolf Foundation, the Tolman Medal (1997), and the Robert A. Welch Award (1997).

He is married with four children.

It is my great pleasure and honor to introduce Dr. Ahmed Zweil.

On May 13, 2010, at a lavish dinner reception at the Egyptian Embassy, the Institute for Education (IFE) presented its 2010 IFE Leadership Award to Christopher Caine, President and CEO of Mercator XXI, in honor of Mr. Caine’s leadership in every IFE program.

Chris was honored one year after President Obama’s historic speech at Cairo University, to recognize the importance of economic and cultural partnerships for leaders from Egypt, the USA and the global community.

In addition to honoring Chris Caine, the evening provided the occasion to announce LearnServe Egypt – IFE’s first-ever LearnServe program in the Middle East. Funds raised from the dinner will enable students in the Washington, DC area to travel to Egypt, partner with Egyptian students, and help build the next generation of social and cultural entrepreneurs. IFE will partner with Mercator XXI to encourage and promote entrepreneurship, innovation, risk taking and leadership.

Finally, the evening brought together esteemed opinion leaders with Egyptian diplomats featuring a vibrant discussion on the topic of “Egypt and USA: Leading Through Economic and Cultural Partnerships.”

His Excellency Sameh Hassan Shoukry, Ambassador of Egypt, opened the evening by welcoming distinguished guests. IFE’s Founder and CEO, Coach Kathy Kemper, echoed Ambassador Shoukry’s sentiments and highlighted the role that initiatives like LearnServe Egypt will play in drawing the United States and Egypt closer together.

After an elegant, multi-course dinner, Coach Kemper introduced His Excellency Jan Matthysen, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium, and Samuel Palmisano, Chariman and CEO of IBM Corporation. Ambassador Matthysen and Chairman Palmisano presented Mr. Caine with the 2010 IFE Leadership Award as well as a prized replica of Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator’s famous globe.

Video of the event can be found at www.youtube.com/watch.
 

"I am grateful to President Mubarak for his hospitality, and for the opportunity to discuss a broad range of issues. Egypt and the United States are partners in a shared desire to see peace and economic prosperity in the Middle East, North Africa, and Sudan. I thank Egypt for the leadership role it has played in supporting these priorities.

"Today, President Mubarak and I reiterated our commitment to reaching a comprehensive peace in the region. The United States recognizes and appreciates Egypt's leadership in support for these efforts. The status quo is unsustainable for all sides. It is vital to make progress in the proximity talks between Israelis and Palestinians to enable the parties to move to direct negotiations as soon as possible that will result in an end to the occupation that began in 1967 and to a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel and a Palestinian state living in peace and security. In addition, we are consulting closely with Egypt, as well as our other partners, on new ways to address the humanitarian, economic, security, and political aspects of the situation in Gaza.

"In addition to the pressing priority of reaching comprehensive peace, we also discussed other areas of regional concern. We appreciate the vital role Egypt is playing in Afghanistan and its support for a strong, independent, unified and democratic Iraq.
"We discussed our serious concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. The international community continues to witness Iran’s non-compliance with its obligations to the United Nations Security Council and the International Agency for Atomic Energy, as well as Iran’s unwillingness to engage seriously with the P5+1 on its nuclear program. The United States remains committed to a diplomatic resolution to these serious issues, but we will continue to hold Iran accountable for its continued violations of its international responsibilities, in accordance with our dual-track policy. We expect to see developments in the United Nations Security Council to hold Iran accountable very soon. In addition to concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, we remain concerned about its destabilizing activities throughout the region, including with regard to its support for Hizballah and Hamas.

"We reaffirmed our commitment to supporting stability in Sudan, including Darfur, and the full implementation of Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and preparing for the referendum on southern self-determination in 2011.

"The United States looks forward to a continuing dialogue with Egypt on a broad range of interests, including Egypt’s ongoing political and economic reform. Elements such as respect for human rights and the need to continue working for a vibrant civil society and more open political competition are vital for Egypt to remain strong and serve as a model to the region. Egypt has made commitments as part of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, including accepting some of the Council’s recommendations. These commitments are important and I encourage Egypt to move ahead swiftly to implement fully those commitments and build upon that agenda."

To read text of the original statement, please click here.
 

Egypt launched an exchange offering cash-starved smaller firms a new a way to raise capital as markets pick up, the bourse chief said.

Maged Shawky, chairman of the Egyptian Exchange, said the new Nilex platform for smaller companies, on which trading started on Thursday, also gave private equity firms a route to exit some of their investments.

Tumbling global markets and a 15 percent drop in Egypt's benchmark index .EGX30 since an April high have prompted some analysts to question the merit of launching a bourse for smaller firms now.

Shawky told Reuters Insider TV: "If we just waited to define when is the proper time to start a new project or to provide a new service for our economy, I think we would have done nothing for the last three years.

"I believe when we start now and when the market picks up we will be ready, the companies will come and will be attracted to being listed," he added.

Egyptian banks have been cautious lenders after being burnt by bad loans in the 1990s. That caution has made them cash rich now and helped Egypt sail through the global credit crunch but small firms can struggle to raise loans, economists say.

Shawky said smaller firms "don't have the real access to finance and the opportunity to grow. So we believe that (Nilex) is a good gateway for investors to access a different kind of venture capital in our market and, from the other side, it (offers) good opportunities of finance for the SMEs."

Ten firms are listed on Nilex, which has fewer disclosure requirements than the main Egyptian market to make it suitable for smaller companies with a shorter track record.

Among them, Ameco Medical Industries AMEC.CA launched a 10 percent private placement on Thursday and is planning a further 10 percent share offering in two months.

However one Nilex member, TN Holdings for Investment (TNHI.CA), has requested a voluntary delisting.

Shawky said he saw more listings without giving numbers. "I do believe there will be ... IPOs ... during this year, despite the fact that it is a turbulent time." Analysts say Egypt needs more big-ticket listings with a new round of privatisations, including for state banks or other major firms, to boost the market's overall liquidity. But they say a small-cap exchange could help build a pipeline for the main bourse.

As part of efforts to deepen capital markets, Egypt aims to set up secondary trading in government bonds, although Shawky said regulations needed amending before trading started. He said the issue was with the Finance Ministry and central bank.

He also said there was little motivation for investors to trade corporate bonds, even though a secondary market existed.
"We have a secondary market but they are not traded because they (have) a very high interest rate so they are very attractive to hold to maturity," he said.

H.E. Sameh Shoukry, Ambassador of Egypt to the United States, Dr. Jehan Sadat, Mrs. Suzy Shoukry and Mrs. Janis Berman

Mrs. Janis Berman, Dr. Jehan Sadat and Mrs. Suzy Shoukry

On May 27, Mrs. Suzy Shoukry, wife of Egyptian Ambassador Sameh Shoukry, hosted a speech and discussion led by Dr. Jehan Sadat entitled, “Egypt: A Commitment towards Peace.” Dr. Sadat was the First Lady of Egypt from 1970-1981 which gave her a unique perspective on peace in Egypt and the Middle East. She is a world-renowned speaker and has been the recipient of national and international awards for public service and humanitarian efforts for women and children. Dr. Sadat has also received more than twenty honorary doctorate degrees from national and international colleges and universities.

Following the speech, the guests enjoyed a discussion and luncheon, held in honor of Dr. Jehan Sadat and Mrs. Janis Berman, the wife of Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA).

Like all of the other neighborhoods in Cairo, Garden City has a fascinating story to tell. Built more than 100 years ago to resemble a Parisian district, the hamlet on the Nile River known for its greenery and stately villas once was home to Cairo's local and foreign-born elites. As times changed, Garden City's influential class moved on and many of the grand villas fell into disrepair.

Today, the historic district's fortunes may be changing for the better. A joint U.S.-Egyptian initiative to restore one of Garden City's villas may foster a climate of local business growth while preserving the country's diverse historical heritage.

Garden City remains unique among Cairo's vibrant neighborhoods. With its curved streets and weathered villas, it boasts a number of current and former embassies, among them Villa Castagli. Built at the end of the 19th century, the villa housed the U.S. embassy from 1943 to 1947.

In 2006, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities designated Villa Castagli as an antiquity site. In addition to its historical value, the villa is an architectural gem. Ornate masonry work adorns the villa's exterior, while the interior features European-style paintings and mosaics in a room of dark, carved wood paneling.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE)-- like its Egyptian hosts -- recognize the building's historical and architectural significance. ARCE is a nonprofit professional organization that supports research on all aspects of Egyptian history and culture.

After U.S. and local officials discussed the prospect of restoring the villa, the Egyptian government moved a girls' school out of the building in October 2008 to make way for restoration.

Both parties involved in the project believe restoring the villa may have a positive effect on the neighborhood. It is hoped that members of the local and international community follow the U.S-Egyptian lead and begin other villa restorations. As Garden City's buildings are restored, tourism and more business could return to the area.

Restoration work on Villa Castagli needs to begin soon. With the villa deteriorating from exposure to the elements, the longer it is neglected the higher the costs will be for its repair.

But before work can begin, the U.S. government is playing a pivotal role by funding a study to assess the best ways to restore and preserve the villa.

Funded by the U.S. Department of State's Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, the restoration of Villa Castagli study is currently under way. The one-year study is divided into two phases of six months each and is being overseen by renowned Egyptian architecture professor Saleh Lamei, director-general of the Centre for Conservation and Preservation of Islamic Architectural Heritage.

Phase one is a six-month conservation study looking at the best ways to prepare the villa for further use and restorations. Among the phase's features are a historical study, an environmental assessment, stone-and-brick investigations as well as laboratory tests on frescoes and glass. Results from the first phase will be used to create a strategy and methodology for restoring Villa Castagli to prime condition.

In phase two, the aging villa's construction will be closely examined. Working under Lamei's direction, engineers will create architectural and structural drawings, map the electrical and plumbing systems, develop work specifications and a list of materials needed for the villa's restoration.

The restoration work will be overseen by the Supreme Council of Antiquities, headed by Secretary-General Zahi Hawass under the auspices of Egypt's Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny. As part of its ongoing efforts to preserve national historical sites, the Egyptian government is willing to fully fund the estimated $4 million Villa Castagli restoration project.

The villa is slated to be more than a landmark once the work is complete. Villa Castagli will house a library open to the general public and contain a center to train Egyptians on preservation and restoration practices at museums. Among other potential adaptive uses of the villa following restoration is a school of museology that will be funded by USAID and implemented through the American Research Center in Egypt.

Humanitarian aid is entering the Gaza Strip after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing with the Palestinian territory. But few Palestinians are able to take advantage of the chance to enter Egypt.

Moustafa Youssef needs help hauling his suitcase across the no-man's land between Egypt and Gaza. He has a long-standing heart condition, which normally is a liability. But in Youssef's case, he has medical permits letting him leave Gaza.

Seeking refuge from the blistering sun in the shadow of the crossing wall, he has nothing but praise for the country he has just entered.

He asks God to protect Egypt, saying that for Gazans "it is the only lung we have to breathe with." Without Egypt, he says, it is like living in a zoo - "We cannot move."
With the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza under blockade, Egypt is a sporadic lifeline, with brief openings coming every month or so. But after Israel's raid on a flotilla trying to break the siege, Egypt, caught between its relations with Israel and the anger of other Arab nations, says Rafah would stay open indefinitely.

There are limits to who and what can pass - mainly people with medical emergencies and deliveries of humanitarian aid.

At the border, Red Crescent trucks stacked with blankets, food and medicine idle as aid workers wait for clearance to pass through.

Ordinary Palestinians returning home take the opportunity to bring in other goods. Ashraf el Najar is driving a pick-up truck loaded with an electric fan, a refrigerator and other household goods.

Najar says he accompanied a relative for medical treatment in Cairo. He bought the appliances on the way back, he says, because his house in Khoza'a, near Khan Younis, was demolished during the last Israeli attack on Gaza.

He is referring to Israel's war last year against Hamas militants. While Israel has deplored Hamas attacks on Israeli territory, Egypt also takes a dim view of the group, which runs the region along its border. The group's rise to power in 2007 prompted Egypt, which is wary of like-minded Islamists at home, to say it would only deal with the ousted Palestinian Authority on the border issue.

While the problem of the blockade continues to be debated at higher political levels, those most affected try their best to work around it.

A young mother stands with her five-year-old daughter here at the eastern edge of the Sinai, waiting to return to their home in Gaza. The little girl has a patch over one eye, evidence of a recent operation to correct a damaged nerve.

Her mother says help is not available in Gaza, so for a year she asked for permission to take her daughter to Jerusalem, but with no success. She too is grateful for Egypt's current opening of the border, but she says she wants it to be permanent. Her daughter needs to come back for follow-up treatment next month, and she says she worries that the border will be closed.
 

Egypt jumped 11 places to rank 70th in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), up from 81 in 2009.

However, the overall improvement was largely based on deteriorating conditions in other countries, according to the seventh annual Egyptian Competitiveness Report (ECR) titled "Green Egypt: A Vision for Tomorrow".

The Egyptian National Competitiveness Council (ENCC) launched the report in a conference Monday, presenting its findings and discussing the main issues.

Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, who inaugurated the conference, disagreed with the report's conclusion, which attributed Egypt's improved ranking to the poor performance of other countries.

"Egypt showed progress when other countries were struggling, this is a testament to the financial and economic development Egypt has shown in the years prior to the crisis," Rachid said.

While the financial sectors of other countries suffered, Egypt was able to remain healthy during the crisis, the report said, due to regulatory reforms and improved supervision.

Egypt jumped 22 places in the financial market sophistication indicator.

The composite competitiveness raw score however has not improved since 2007, remained at 4. The score is ranged from 1-7 with 1 being the lowest competitiveness performance and 7 the highest.

According to the report, scores were lowest in the areas related to human development, labor markets and macroeconomic stability. In labor market efficiency, Egypt ranks 126 out of 133 countries; and in quality of education Egypt came in at 123.

Officials also discussed fiscal policies that should be utilized to improve Egypt's competitiveness.

The report finds that although fiscal, monetary and other reforms taken by the government were generally effective, "the crisis strongly highlighted the vulnerabilities in Egypt's macro-economy."

To be addressed
The report recommens that Egypt tackle issues including "high inflation, high unemployment rates, weak shared growth, persistent poverty, high budget deficits and high level of public debt."

"Egypt has made significant progress in a number of pillars including capital market development, infrastructure and technology readiness, which has resulted in the 11 place jump in the rankings," said Malak Reda, senior economist at the Egyptian Center for Economics Studies in her presentation.

"There is still a need for further progress in several other areas. Reform is needed with regards to macro-economic stability, and development of human resources through improving the quality of education and health and raising the efficiency of the labor market is needed," added Reda.

The most controversial argument was about the quality of fiscal spending. The report points out that too much government budget is allocated to operational salaries and poorly targeted subsidies and not enough is used for investment in human resources and infrastructure that can improve Egypt's long term competitiveness and lower poverty.

Amina Ghanem, deputy minister for international relations in the Ministry of Finance, said, "Fiscal space must be found through the re-distribution of public spending between current salaries and subsidy bills and long term investment spending."

"This could be done by finding new revenue streams without raising taxes and developing policies to support the medium-term competitiveness and the construction of the Egyptian growth engine," added Ghanem.

"Most importantly, this requires the establishment of an institutional structure that coordinates the balance between current spending and investment spending so the budget allocated for investment is not just the remaining "residual" amount after all the salaries and subsidies have been paid," Ghanem explained.

As the title suggests, the report also proposes a strategic framework for action to move to a green economy, building on Egypt's potential strengths and giving concrete recommendations on the roles of the government, private sector, civil society and education and research institutions in this framework.

Rachid stressed the importance of Egypt following the new trend.

"Egypt's limited resources, rising population, recent potential water scarcity issues and food security prioritization are reasons why Egypt should consider adapting to the new economic trends moving away from consuming huge amounts of energy and water to a more sustainable model," Rachid added.

"The green revolution is what we need as it a solution to many current problems including the ongoing depletion of our non renewable energy resources and the shortage of water as well as being a potential source of employment opportunities," explained Rachid.

Mona ElBaradei, executive director of the ENCC, said that through its discussion and recommendations with regards to Egypt's transformation into a green economy and its focus on human development indicators and the policies which advance them, the ECR provides a "pathway to the future" for Egypt.

As Africans came together in unity to celebrate Africa Day today on May 25, we reflect on the progress we have made and the challenges that remain as we work toward achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). With only five years left until the 2015 deadline, dedicated resources and strong leadership from African nations are more important than ever. Over the past decade we have made great progress, but more needs to be done, especially in the area of health.

In 2001, Africa's heads of state signed the Abuja Declaration and committed to the eventual creation of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a public/private partnership and the largest multilateral financing institution in the fight against major causes of illness and mortality on our continent. Since then, The Global Fund has fostered stronger health systems in Africa, saved the lives of millions of women and children across the continent, strengthened economies of African countries through healthier workforces, and fostered partnerships between the public and private sectors.

2010 is a critical year as we strive to reach the MDG milestones for reducing childhood mortality, improving the lives of women and girls, and fighting infectious diseases. This year is also important for donor nations to pledge new resources to support Global Fund projects around the world.

The African Union Summit this July is a valuable opportunity to demonstrate African countries commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, especially in the health sector. We hope that the rest of the world will express similar commitment, and continue to pledge its increasing support to The Global Fund to help in achieving these goals. Investing in The Global Fund is an investment towards improving the lives of millions, and strengthening Africa now and in the future.

The authors are Co-Chairs of the Africa Day Commemoration in Washington, D.C.

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As one of only two markets in the Arab world to  be  given emerging market status by MSCI Barra, the Egyptian stock market attracts significant capital flows from overseas funds as well as from local investors. Moreover, since the EGX 30 index has risen 4.1 per cent in the year to date, Cairo is one of the best-performing markets in the region.

The Egyptian authorities are looking to boost that status by announcing measures that pave the ground for the introduction of index-linked funds and tighten the rules of disclosure for traded companies.

“Our aim is to find the correct balance between regulatory measures and energising the market by encouraging new forms of activity,” says Ziad Bahaa El-Din, chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority.

The EFSA was formed only last year and Mr Bahaa El-Din, a lawyer, is its first head. The body unifies under one management team the previous regulators of the capital market and the mortgage and insurance industries.
Over the past five years, Egyptian government policies have been mostly pro-business and strongly supportive of the private sector, giving the bourse an increasingly important role in the economy.

Brokers say the introduction of index funds will increase the variety of products in a market that is still limited in the range of vehicles it offers to small investors. The measures include rules for market makers in index funds – the last step needed to allow the product to come to market.

“There are too many retail investors who do not really know how to invest,” says a managing director at a leading Cairo brokerage house. He says retail investors make up almost 60 per cent of daily trading volumes. “This type of . . . fund will be one way to absorb them,” the managing director says.

Other measures aimed at boosting activity allow same-day trading and margin-trading on a larger number of stocks. Mr Bahaa El-Din says his authority has agreed new standards that will double the number of “active” stocks eligible for such operations to more than 100. Shares of companies in which at least 10 per cent of the capital is a free float are now considered active. The previous threshold was 15 per cent.

The EFSA is also moving to introduce stricter disclosure rules. Companies will be obliged to inform the market before the start of trading about changes to their capital structure, the nature of their activity or the nominal value of their shares.

Decisions such as capital increases and share splits will have to be disclosed promptly to prevent the spread of rumours and manipulation of the market.

“We are forcing a much higher level of disclosure for corporate actions,” says Mr Bahaa El-Din.
The authority is now endowed with the range of powers exercised by regulators elsewhere in the world, including carrying out surprise inspections and taking cases to court. So far, it has brought “a handful” of cases to trial over the past year, two of which have led to criminal convictions.

“More importantly, we also have the power to settle [out of court] with wrongdoers,” Mr Bahaa El-Din says. “But I do not believe that all crimes should end with settling. I want to send a clear signal that settling is exceptional, not a right or a rule.”

To that end, the authority is building up capacity by taking on 40 staff a year. They undergo a newly introduced 16-month training programme, including a trip to a counterpart abroad, which this year will be Singapore.

More generally, Mr Bahaa El-Din wants an improvement in the quality of quarterly corporate results. “Companies need to have more research published on them. Some companies do not allow analysts enough information,” he says.
Brokers say most of the big companies traded on the Egyptian market adhere to reasonable standards, but they complain that, among small and medium cap entities, corporate governance, insider trading and failure to abide by the rules are often a problem.

“The issue is not so much regulation, but it is the enforcement of existing regulations,” says the managing director of the brokerage house.

The EFSA is also moving to tighten the over-the-counter market for stocks in companies that have been removed from the main exchange because they breached listing regulations. This part of the market is particularly chaotic and open to manipulation, according to brokers, and will now be limited to two half-hour trading sessions every week.

“This was not meant to be a fully fledged market,” says Mr Bahaa El-Din. “It was only meant to help investors exit from stocks that have been delisted.”
 

Elections for the Shura Council, the upper house of Egypt’s bicameral legislature, will be held on June 1st, 2010, with over 450 candidates representing independents and over a dozen political parties.

At the meeting organized by the National Council for Human Rights, which is organizing the participation of Egyptian civil society observers in the election on behalf of the HEC, the Commission committed itself to delivering accreditation documentation to thousands of observers in a timely manner prior to the election to ensure their smooth deployment around the country. The HEC also announced a 5 day extension to the accreditation deadline to ensure that all requests for accreditation would be met.

Egyptian electoral law allows for a number of election monitors and observers, including judges, candidate representatives, and Egyptian civil society observers, as we all Egyptian and foreign media. Observers will have access to polling stations to monitor balloting, as well as to ballot counting at district election centers.

The Secretary-General of the National Council for Human Rights, Ambassador Mahmoud Kassem, explained that model observation and complaint forms had been developed and distributed to the civil observers to standardize the reporting process. He also stated that an election observation center had been established at the Council to centralize the collection and forwarding of election complaints and reports from civil observers to the High Elections Commission.

In related news, the Monitoring and Rectification Committee for Media Coverage of the Election released its first weekly report on media coverage of the 2010 Shura Council Elections. In its report covering the period from 17 to 23 May, the Committee noted 7 instances of bias towards the National Democratic Party, as well as 1 instance of inappropriate use of religious issues in election coverage.

As part of its report the Committee issued a series of recommendations, including calling upon all media to abide by strict neutrality and to increase civic information content to encourage electoral awareness and participation.

The Committee established by the Ministry of Information includes representatives of public and private media outlets, all political parties participating in the election, as well as representatives of Egyptian civil society, including human rights organizations. The Committee is mandated to monitor audio-visual media coverage of the election, particularly publically owned media, to determine their compliance with media regulations certified by the High Elections Commission to ensure fair and neutral coverage.
 

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The Great Sphinx of Giza may have witnessed some incredible sights over the 4500 years it’s been reclining there, but few are likely to compete with the stunning lunacy of Friday night’s freestyle motocross (FMX) jamboree.

The event brought together the world’s 12 best FMX athletes on their second stop of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2010. Sailing 15 meters high and 30 meters in length, man and machine were seen suspended in astonishing poses against an ancient background of its own wonder.

The consistent gasps and “wows” of the 10,000 spectators throughout the two and a half hour event pierced the night, with stunt after stunt performed to a backdrop of blazing punk rock, heavy metal, and occasional pop.

“These guys are totally and utterly insane,” said one spectator after seeing a stunt that involved a rider letting go of his bike in midair for what seemed to be a very long two seconds, only hopping back onto it before what would have otherwise been a very nasty crash landing.

Though the event was injury-free, FMX is notorious for leaving its contestants with a history of broken bones. Nate Adams, who won last year’s world tour, was sporting a swollen hand the morning before the big event, after an accident during training and qualifications on Thursday.

“I broke my collar bone, several fingers and toes, my wrist, shoulder, left femur, and some of these several times over,” said 26-year-old Adams, half-amused, half-resigned to his fate. “I don’t think I was born to do anything else.”

Jones, who was raised in Phoenix, USA, finished third in last night’s competition, and began training for his FMX career at the age of eight. He says it isn’t fear or danger that are the most demanding in the sport, but rather the troubles of being on a world tour. “It’s really the jet lag, the exhaustion, and getting used to a bike that’s not your own that’s the real worry,” he said.

The winner of Friday’s competition was American Adam Jones, followed by Norwegian Andre Villa in second place.

By the time the event reached the finals, there was a sense of mounting repetition with the stunts. At that point, however, it did not matter as the mainly youthful spectators were buzzing on an excess of discounted Red Bull–which, along with Marlboro cigarettes--was decadently the only product within easy reach of purchase.

Organization was as lacking as any large event by the Pyramids, and tight security meant that each car was searched before parking--a process that for Al-Masry Al-Youm translated into over an hour to park.

All went smoothly once through the gates, augmented by Nile FM’s Safi delivering some lively and upbeat commentary.

Four more stops comprise the world tour, with the next event scheduled to take place on Moscow’s Red Square on 26 June, 2010.
 

To read the Ministry of Information’s HEC-certified state media coverage regulations, please click here.

Yesterday, the independent High Elections Commission (HEC) of Egypt announced the opening of the official campaign period for the upcoming Shura Council election. The Shura Council is the upper house of the Egyptian parliament, and one third of the Council is up for re-election on June 1st of this year.

The independent High Elections Commission (HEC) has certified the candidacies of 490 Egyptians representing a variety of parties, and independents to compete for 88 seats. 

Announcing a level playing field for campaigning, Chairman of the HEC, Justice Intisar Nasim, President of the Cairo Court of Appeals said that “all candidates are equal in the eyes of the commission,” adding that the Commission would strictly apply campaign rules, regardless of the candidates political affiliation.

Minister of Information, Anas El-Fiky also announced HEC-certified regulations for fair, equal and neutral media coverage, including free air time for all parties and candidates.

The HEC also announced that every stage of the election, from voting to ballot counting, would be monitored by members of the judiciary, as well as by candidates’ representatives and Egyptian civil society observers, with additional access granted to domestic and foreign media.
 

Washington, D.C. – Today in Cairo, the independent High Elections Commission (HEC) of Egypt announced the opening of the official campaign period for the 2010 Shura Council election that will take place on June 1st of this year.
The Shura Council is the upper house of the Egyptian parliament, which provides advice to the People’s Assembly, the lower chamber, and whose consent is required on fundamental laws that implement provisions of the constitution. The Council is made up of 264 members who serve for six years. Mid-term elections take place for half of the elected seats (88) every three years.

The HEC announced that 575 candidates applied during the candidate registration period, with 490 being certified. A number of applicants were not registered for reasons such as failing to provide certificates of completion of compulsory military service or having previous criminal convictions.

Level Field for Campaigning

In his announcement of the opening of the campaign the Chairman of the independent HEC, Justice Intisar Nasim, President of the Cairo Court of Appeals said that “all candidates are equal in the eyes of the commission,” adding that the Commission would strictly apply campaign rules, regardless of the candidates political affiliation. The independent HEC’s campaign regulations are drawn from constitutional and election law, including, among others, a ban on the use of public property or funds, houses of worship, violence, threats or bribery, and religious slogans, or those promoting discrimination on the basis of gender or origin, as well as establishing a campaign spending limit of EGP 200,000 (USD 35,700) per candidate.

Justice Nasim also announced that the Commission would respond to any complaints from candidates or civil society observers, and that each candidate would be given a digital copy of the voter registry for the district in which they were competing.

Fair, Equal & Neutral Media Coverage for All Competitors

In parallel with the kick-off of the official campaign period, the Minister of Information, Anas El-Fiky, announced the certification by the independent High Elections Commission of a series of guidelines and standards for audio-visual media coverage of the Shura Council campaign. All state media will be required to abide by a number of basic guidelines, including among others: fair, neutral and equal access to coverage and state media for all parties and candidates; protection for the privacy of candidates; and strict separation of political advertising from normal coverage.

Free Air Time for Parties and Candidates

The guidelines also provide for free air time to political parties on national and local publicly owned radio and television networks to present themselves and their platforms to Egyptian voters. All candidates will be given free air time on local airwaves, as well as equal opportunity to purchase political advertisements.

Independent Evaluation of Compliance

The independent High Election Commission will ensure compliance with these principles through a multi-stakeholder committee established by the Minister of Information that includes representatives from all parties participating in the election; private and public media outlets and experts; and Egyptian civil society groups, including Egyptian human rights organizations. The Committee will report any violations of failures to abide by these principles to the Ministry and the independent HEC, which has the legal authority to rectify any failures.

Noting the radically changed media environment, which saw an increase in private television stations from 14 to 56 in the last five years, the Minister appealed to private media outlets to abide by the same principles of fairness, neutrality and equality in their coverage of the elections.

Election Transparency & Election-Law Compliance to be Independently Observed

The Commission also announced that every stage of the election, from voting to ballot counting, would be monitored by members of the judiciary, and be observed by candidates’ representatives and Egyptian civil society observers, with additional access granted to domestic and foreign media.

His Excellency Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Ambassador to the United States; General David H. Petraeus, Commander United States Central Command; United States Senator Dan Inouye (D-HI)




United States Senator Dan Inouye (D-HI) and his wife, Irene Hirano Inouye with Egyptian Defense, Military, Naval & Air Attaché Major General Mohamed Elkeshky and his wife, Malak Aly

Ambassador Sameh Shoukry hosted a social dinner at his residence on May 5th in honor of General David H. Petraeus, Commander of the United States Central Command.

The dinner presented an opportunity to recognize the importance of the Egyptian-American friendship and General Petraeus’ contributions to the relationship.

Attendees included: United States Senator Dan Inouye (D-HI), Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA), Assistant Secretaries of State Jeffrey Feltman and Andrew Shapiro, and Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow. Additional guests included friends of both Ambassador Shoukry and General Petraeus: former National Security Advisors Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft, and Jessica Mathews, President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

During the event, the commitment to strengthen the relationship between Egypt and the U.S. was reinforced.

“The President of the Republic committed himself in his electoral platform to lift the state of emergency and formulate a new counterterrorism law which would balance personal freedom with the interests and security of society,” said Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif in his statement to the People’s Assembly today. “The Government restates this commitment to the representatives of the nation to lift the state of emergency as soon as a balanced law is adopted.”

Under the latest draft, the Government seeks to limit the scope and application of the emergency law solely for the purposes of countering terrorism and narcotics trafficking. Under the new reform the powers provided for under the emergency law would be solely confined to arrests of suspects, searching of persons and places suspected of involvement in terrorism and narcotics trafficking and the cancelation of licenses to bear arms or own explosive materials, and the right to confiscate them.

In recent years, Egypt has been repeatedly subjected to acts of terrorism, the most notorious of which was the assassination of Egypt’s head of state, President Anwar Sadat, in 1981. This tragedy led the Government to declare a “state of emergency,” which granted the government the authority to monitor communications, censor media, detain persons deemed to be a threat to national security and freeze property. Since 1981, the law has been continuously renewed.

“Egypt faces a very real and very serious terrorist threat, and the government’s primary responsibility is to keep our citizens safe,” said Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s Ambassador to the United States. “We look forward to a day when a state of emergency will not be necessary in Egypt. In the meantime, the new legal limits on the emergency law represent a significant step in moving towards a new comprehensive counterterrorism law, an important but difficult process which we are now attempting to resolve.”

To view the Egyptian Government’s press release, please click here.
To view the Egyptian Embassy in Washington’s press release, please click here.
To read the full text of the Prime Minister’s speech, please click here.
To learn more about the Emergency Law, please click here.
 

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a $7.15 million grant for Egypt, which will help finance the Alexandria Coastal Zone Management Project.

The grant will support the Government of Egypt’s efforts to reconcile economic development with environmental and social sustainability though the implementation of an integrated approach to coastal zone management, in particular the ongoing preparation of a National Strategy for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM).

"We are pleased that the GEF grant will support this project, which is in line with the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Egypt, namely to ensure environmental sustainability along with economic growth," said A. David Craig, Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti.

The objective of Alexandria Coastal Zone Management Project is to improve institutional mechanisms for the sustainable management of coastal zones in Alexandria, in particular to reduce land-based pollution to the Mediterranean Sea. The project will pilot innovative and low-cost technologies for pollution reduction originating from agricultural drainage water and rural domestic wastewater.

To read the full article, please click here.

To view this article from its original source, please click here.

A work by Egyptian master Mahmud Said sold for US$2.43 million at an auction in Dubai, a record for a modern painting by a Middle Eastern artist, auction house Christie's said.

The painting, "Les Chadoufs," portrays Egyptian peasants drawing water from the Nile.

Christie's, which organized Tuesday night's auction at a luxury hotel in Dubai, had estimated its value at between US$150,000 and 200,000. The identity of the buyer was not revealed.

The British auction house said the price was a "record for any modern painting by any Middle Eastern artist."

The auction was attended by dozens of buyers, with others participating by telephone or online.

A statement by Christie's said the sale netted a total of $US15.1 million--more than double the US$6.7 million raised during its auction last October in Dubai, which was hard hit by the global financial crisis.

The painting by Said, an Egyptian artist who died in 1964 at age 67, belonged to former mayor of the Saudi city of Jeddah, Mohammed Said Farsi.

It was auctioned along with 25 other works from Farsi's private collection at a total price of US$8.7 million.

"Sunset on the Nile at Luxor," another of Said's paintings, sold for US$902,000, while "Poet and Cage," a sculpture by Iranian Parviz Tanavoli, sold for US$1.02 million.

Christie's said that 64 percent of buyers were from the Middle East, while the rest were from the United States, Europe and Asia.

The auction was the eighth organized by Christie's in Dubai. It is holding another auction for jewelery and watches on Wednesday.

The Egyptian stock exchange index has risen 20.6 per cent this year. While still short of the peaks it reached in early 2008, the rise comes on top of a robust rally in 2009 and means that the Cairo exchange is one of the best performers in the Middle East and North Africa this year.

“What we thought of as a dead cat bounce in March last year has slowly but surely turned into a decent recovery from the bottom,” says Wael Ziada, head of Egypt research at EFG-Hermes, a regional investment bank.
At the beginning of the year, EFG-Hermes forecast 25 per cent growth in its benchmark HFI index but Mr Ziada says that, with most of this already achieved, he expects the bourse to beat the forecast by “maybe” 5 to 10 per cent.
“The only thing that could blemish this performance would be a significant macro event in the second part of the year,” he says. “It could be something like a severe financial crisis in Europe or an extreme political shock.”
For the moment, however, the best prospects, says Mr Ziada, are for stocks in cyclical sectors or those catering to local consumer demand.

Buoyed mostly by strong domestic demand, the Egyptian economy grew 4.7 per cent in the year ending June 2009, and forecasts for this year are for growth of upwards of 5 per cent.

Although the country’s main economic drivers – tourism, remittances, Suez Canal revenue and foreign direct investment – have all shrunk because of the global downturn, strong local demand in the country of 80m people has helped maintained momentum.

“When the market crashed, there was overreaction on the downside,” says Angus Blair, head of research at Beltone Financial, another regional bank. “The recovery had to make up that ground. Also, when you look at the regional context, you see that Gulf countries have issues, not least the real estate bubble and the level of indebtedness, neither of which Egypt has.”

In spite of the optimism, there is a consensus that Egypt cannot afford to be complacent, and that a reform agenda, which has lagged behind, needs to be reactivated.

Mr Ziada says he wants to see inflation brought down from its current rate of 12 per cent and the labour market reformed with better skills training to encourage industry and job creation.
In addition to reform, there are longer-term concerns attached to the political succession in Egypt. Uncertainty surrounding the health of Hosni Mubarak, the 81-year-old president, caused the market to fall for a few days last month.

“We’ve still got some upside,” says Mr Blair. “There have been some good rises, which means some stocks have reached their targets, but there are also some risks such as inflation and the political equation, which came to the fore more quickly and to a greater degree than we would have assumed a few months ago.”

Egypt on Wednesday convicted 26 men it linked to Lebanon's Hezbollah of planning attacks inside the country, in a case that has underscored Sunni Arab concerns about the rising influence of the Iranian-backed group.
Judge Adel Abdel Salam Gomaa of Egypt's emergency state security court said investigations had proved the group intended "to strike Egypt's economy, destroy the bonds between its people and create chaos and instability throughout the country."

The court sentenced the men — who included Lebanese, Palestinians, Egyptians and one Sudanese — to jail terms from six months to life. Some were convicted in absentia.

Among those tried was Sami Chehab, also named as Mohamed Youssef Mansour Ahmed, who received a jail term of 15 years. He was present in court, placed with the others inside a cage.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last year confirmed Chehab was a member of the group, which has both political and military wings and is now part of Lebanon's government, but denied the man committed any crime. Nasrallah said Chehab was only helping equip Palestinians in their fight against Israel.

Defense attorney Montasser Zayat said three of those convicted received life sentences, which he said in Egyptian law was equivalent to 25 years.

"This verdict is cruel and does not fit with the documents put forward," Zayat said. No appeal would be possible but President Hosni Mubarak would be able to reduce any of the sentences if he chose, he said.

Rights groups say Egypt has used "exceptional" courts like emergency and military courts to secure guilty verdicts and point to swift and often harsh sentences passed by the courts against Islamist militants in the 1990s.
Egypt's relations with Hezbollah have been strained since the group called Egypt a "partner in crime" with Israel against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Some Arabs have criticized Egypt for what they say is Cairo's support of Israel's blockade of Gaza.
Egypt, the only Arab state to share a border with Gaza, has said Nasrallah was trying to create chaos in the region to serve the interests of others, an apparent reference to Iran.

Cairo has long had strained relations with Tehran and the two countries do not have full diplomatic ties.
Nasrallah had said no more than 10 people had cooperated with Chehab, rather than the 26 Egypt accused.

Amid fears of renewed armed conflict in the North, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reassured his Lebanese counterpart Sa'ad Hariri on Tuesday that Israel had no plans to attack his country.

On his way out of a meeting with Mubarak at the Red Sea resort of Sharm e-Sheikh, Hariri said the Egyptian president had cited "positive" signs from his recent contacts with Israel.

However, the Lebanese president said he was assured Egypt would support Lebanon should such a war break out.

Hariri denied recent accusations that Syria had transferred Scud missiles to Hizbullah in Lebanon, saying his country was "not prepared to sit in the dock."

Reports of the alleged Scud transfer surfaced in Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper earlier this month. Israel subsequently issued a stern warning that it would consider attacking both Syrian and Lebanese targets in response to a Scud attack on its territory.

Earlier Tuesday, Israel Radio reported that Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit had passed on messages to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and representatives of the other permanent UN Security Council members, warning that the current Israel-Lebanon tensions could deteriorate into a war in the summer.

Meanwhile, according to the radio station, Egypt denied Arab media reports that Aboul Gheit had called Israel an enemy state at a press conference in Beirut on Monday.

Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon had protested the alleged remark on Monday to the director of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry's Israel desk.

In response, the ministry said that all Aboul Gheit had said was that he could not transmit messages from Israel to Lebanon since Lebanon viewed Israel as an enemy state.

Egypt’s Parliament approved on April 20th a law to combat Human Trafficking. The law comes at a crucial time as Human Trafficking has become a world wide problem and the third most profitable illegal business in the world after weapons and drugs.

The law aims to criminalize all forms of human trafficking, impose stern penalties on all parties involved in trafficking and guarantee the protection of the victim while working to adopt a comprehensive approach built on prevention, protection and assistance to the victims of human trafficking.

The anti-trafficking law is part of a comprehensive government strategy to combat the illegal transfer and exploitation of persons. Several measures have recently been introduced, including the creation of a new hotline to provide round-the-clock assistance to children and women in distress, the establishment of a National Coordinating Committee to Combat and Prevent Trafficking in Persons as well as an intensive media campaign to highlight the issue.

The recently passed law provides for the establishment of rehabilitation and educational programs for victims of trafficking through governmental and non-governmental agencies. The law also calls for strict prison terms for anyone convicted of a human trafficking related crime and fines ranging between $9,000 and $36,000.

The Minister of State for Family and Population Moushira Khattab noted the importance of the law, viewing it as a mechanism to protect the rights of those that are most vulnerable in society.

UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons Joy Ngozi Ezeilo praised the “strong political commitment of the Egyptian government to tackle [human trafficking],” while highlighting some of the challenges that still persist in combating the problem.

Ezeilo, who was on a 10-day visit to Egypt upon the request of the Egyptian government to evaluate the situation of human trafficking in Egypt and give recommendations, explained that the government showed commitment through the ratification of several international conventions and ongoing legislative developments.
She especially welcomed the adoption of the Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons as containing “all that is required to effectively combat human trafficking, especially an extensive definition of trafficking and a clause aiming at the non-criminalization of the victims.”

This new law comes within a series of legislative developments, such as the law prohibiting organ trafficking, the criminalization of child trafficking and the amendment to the Child Law which raised the minimum age of marriage of girls to 18 years.

A school bus tour around Egypt’s governorates is UNESCO Egypt’s mobile, innovative way to raise awareness about the global movement Education for All (EFA).

As part of the EFA week, the campaign aims at educating people about the movement’s six main goals and is carried out in cooperation with UNICEF Egypt and under the auspices of the Ministry of Education.

“Every year UNESCO [on a global level] organizes an Education for All week to raise awareness about the importance of education and about reaching the six EFA goals,” said Ghada Gholam, program specialist in education at UNESCO Egypt.

“On the local level we usually organize events, this year we chose an innovative idea. We got a bus to use this week to roam around governorates to raise awareness among all members of the community about the importance of education,” she explained.

“It has a vision; education can take place anywhere, it can happen in schools and it can happen outside schools as well,” Gholam added.

The EFA bus will be touring around six governorates in Egypt from April 26 and until May 5 starting with Cairo to Menufiya, Alexandria, Minya, Sohag and Assiut.

The six EFA goals it will be advocating are: early childhood care and education; universal primary education; learning life skills; adult literacy; gender equality in education and enhancing the quality of education.

The campaign is targeting all stakeholders in education; these include the government, civil society, educators, parents and children. “We want to make sure that every member [of the community] receives good quality education,” noted Gholam.

The EFA bus took off from the premises of the Ministry of Education yesterday morning, with representatives from the different partners present.

The bus is carrying two young volunteers, who will be responsible for reaching out to the community in the respective governorate through various activities and games.

“We are planning to use all the different ways possible to bring people back to education,” said Minister of Education Ahmed Zaki Badr, referring to those who dropped out of school or are illiterate.

“We are going to support innovative means in order to make up for past time,” he added.

“This is not a project it’s a vision that the ministry has for children in Egypt,” said UNICEF Egypt representative, Erma Manoncourt.

“Education is the foundation…it’s the basis for the future of Egypt,” she added.

Badr also outlined plans to increase the number of classes in schools as well as build new schools all in an effort to reduce the number of students in each class.

“When the minister talks about education for all it really [sheds light on] education for all children in Egypt,” said Manoncourt.

“He kept on emphasizing the kinds of things they want to do to either improve the schools, to expand the schools, to expose the children to other aspects, so it’s really getting to the fundamental basis of development which is education,” she added, “Education of children especially because those are the leaders of tomorrow so if you make the investment today, you get a double dividend, you get a multiplier.”

The global EFA initiative aims to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015.

“I call on all UNESCO’s partners in Egypt, government, parliamentarians, international agencies, non-governmental organizations, communities, teachers and students to support the Global Action Week on Education for All and advocate for the right to education for all in order to meet the six EFA goals by the set target of 2015,” said Tarek Shawki from UNESCO Egypt.

The bus will make one-day stops in each governorate. Gholam noted that while educating a person in one day is not possible, advocating for the importance of education is.

“You can convince them that it is important to send their girls as well as their boys to school, convince them that early childhood education is important because then the child is prepared for basic education, convince those who are illiterate and didn’t get a chance to go to school that there are other ways as community learning centers where they can get educated,” she said.

“So it is not that one day is enough to educate people but one day is enough to raise awareness of the importance of education in that governorate,” said Gholam.

The “Boy King” returned to New York City on April 23, for the first time in 30 years. To commemorate the occasion, Egypt’s Ambassador to the United States H.E. Sameh Shoukry asked U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney to accept King Tut’s “passport” for safe keeping. The short ceremony took place at the Discovery Times Square Exposition immediately preceding the gala event celebrating the opening of the King Tut exhibit.

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Despite poverty, overpopulation and a lack of education about environmental issues, Egypt is making some small strides towards improving its environmental ecosystem.

Earth day is being celebrated in Egypt by environmentalists Thursday amid attempts to raise public awareness about the consequences of pollution and damage to the country's fragile ecosystem with a growing population now estimated at 80 million people.

The daunting task of improving the quality of life for those people amid challenging circumstances is being tackled by government agencies and NGOs, and small strides are being made.

Egyptian authorities have tried to clamp down, with partial success, on the pall of black smoke hanging over Cairo every autumn, after farmers illegally burn off what is left of their rice crops.

Sa'id Sadek, who teaches political science at the American University of Cairo says the government is trying to solve the problem, but many bureaucracies make that effort complicated:

"They are working on the black smoke; there are laws, but the problem is that the enforcement of the law is dispersed among several institutions," said Sa'id Sadek. "It is the job of the governorate, the ministry of the interior, the ministry of irrigation, agriculture. Then, because you have a jungle of institutions and bureaucracies involved, it is a little difficult. What to do? There are laws. The problem is always enforcement and the people breaking the law are not aware of the consequences."

Sadek notes the government made a major improvement to the nation's air quality after it switched over to lead-free fuel, but that the quality of life for many is not ideal:

"All the fuel in Egypt today is lead free and that has improved the quality of the air," said Sadek. "But still, the heavy traffic, the overpopulation, the poverty, the lack of green space in the city of Cairo makes it still not an easy, environmental friendly city."

He also points out that the government is gradually trying to phase out Cairo's ancient fleet of black and white taxis, many of which date back to the 1960s and '70s, by giving taxi owners the chance to buy new vehicles at subsidized prices.

Mona Fadali of the NGO "Friends of the Environment" says her group concentrates much of its efforts on educating young people in Egyptian schools, so that they are more aware of their responsibilities as good citizens to protect the environment.

She also points to several specific projects that have been undertaken to raise public awareness, including one to save the environmentally damaged Lake Mariout, south of Cairo, which has attracted the attention of the Egyptian media:

"We had two projects related to Lake Mariout," said Mona Fadali. "They were just building buildings on top of the lake and destroying the lake with all kinds of pollution: industrial pollution, agricultural pollution [were] being thrown into the lake. So, as an NGO, we made public hearing sessions, workshops, and a complaint in the newspapers about how to save the lake."

She also points to a campaign by her organization in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria to save the sea-turtle, which is increasingly threatened by garbage and the destruction of its habitat. "Each year, we work with other Mediterranean countries," she says, "to clean up the coastline and remove garbage that hurts the turtles."

To view this article from its original source, please click here.

The Ambassador started the visit with a breakfast meeting with the representatives of the Egyptian community in Charlotte, as they discussed the current developments in Egypt and the Middle East and the Egyptian community's interests in the US. In this context, the Ambassador discussed with the Egyptian Muslims and Copts – including representatives of the Egyptian church in Charlotte – the issue of establishing an association and an official society to encompass Egyptians living in Charlotte and the US, which will preserve their interests, supply them with facilities, and enhance solidarity among them. The Ambassador affirmed that the Egyptian embassy in Washington intends to boost the efficiency of its internet site to link and connect the Egyptian community in the US, the matter which will boost the ability of the "two sides of the nation" to present support for the nation's issues. Meanwhile, the Ambassador accepted the invitation from the community's representatives to attend a huge party for the Egyptian community in Charlotte, which is currently organized.

Ambassador Sameh Shoukry, furthermore, delivered a speech at the North Carolina University entitled "Egypt and the challenges in the Middle East" in which he pointed to the effect of those challenges on the international security and stability, indicating that the accomplishment of justice in the main issue which motivates the passions of the peoples of the region is the key to achieving stability in the Middle East. The Ambassador added that Egypt appreciates the pioneering role played by the American administration to push the negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis forwards. He stressed the importance of carrying on the Egyptian-American cooperation in order to achieve stability and development in the Middle East and asserted that justice settles peace and that stability enhances development and welfare of the region.

Ambassador Sameh Shoukry outlined that achieving comprehensive peace in the Middle East and establishing a Palestinian state that lives beside the state of Israel is not an impossible aim, but it is an accessible one. He necessitated that the upcoming phase witness a number of procedures to curb the current crisis, most important of which are halting all the Israeli settlement activities, lifting all the Israeli security boundaries in the Palestinian territories, unifying the Palestinian stance and improving the humanitarian and living circumstances in the Gaza Strip.

The speech also tackled the Iraqi file in which Ambassador Shoukry affirmed the importance of preserving the security and political gains which have been achieved in Iraq lately, demonstrating the last Egyptian policies to sustain the Iraqi side. As concerns Iran, Ambassador Sameh Shoukry underlined the importance of tackling the nuclear Iranian file within the framework of international diplomatic efforts, based on laying the foundations of a unified standard to deal with all the challenges confronting the nuclear non-proliferation system in the region. This includes globalizing the NPT and applying the IEAE guarantees, in order to establish a zone free from mass destruction weapons.

Ambassador Sameh Shoukry, moreover, met with the leaderships of some commercial enterprises and economic and banking institutions which are based in Charlotte. The meeting tackled the current situation in Egypt and the region, and the status quo of the Egyptian-American relations on the economic and commercial fields, and the Egyptian economy and the chances of investment in it.

The Ambassador has also met with the leaderships of the Jewish organizations in Charlotte. The meeting focused on the Palestinian cause and the Iranian file. He also met with members of Carolina Council for Middle East Affairs, which aims to acquaint the citizens of Northern and Southern Carolina with the current situation in the region and propagate for the peoples' cultures and contributions through organizing cultural and educational events. The discussion with the members of the council tackled the importance of increasing the number of Egyptian citizens participating in the activities of the council and reinforcing the Arab presence in it.

The Egyptian Ambassador in the United States concluded his visit to Charlotte by a t.v. interview in which he elaborated the conclusions of his visit to Charlotte and the Egyptian vision towards the current situation in the Middle East.
 

The visit was an opportunity for me to meet with members of the Egyptian community based in the Charlotte area and to get to know their personal experiences and achievements. Among them were chemists, students, priests, sheikhs, lawyers and businessmen keen to discuss their community’s organization, Egyptian domestic developments and the services provided by the Egyptian Embassy and consulates in the US. In this regard, I affirmed my keenness to develop the online services available on the Embassy’s website, in a way that will help them getting their requests processed through a mouse click and help further connect the members of the Egyptian-American community in the US.

I was delighted to give remarks at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte (UNCC) regarding the challenges facing Egypt and the Middle East, during which I sought to highlight the effect of those challenges on international peace and security, and the centrality of the Palestinian issue in resolving regional crises and countering forces of instability. I further stressed the importance of ongoing Egyptian-American cooperation in achieving these objectives.
During my visit to the UNCC, I had a long discussion with the University’s professors and students, which confirmed to me how avid, are the Americans for understanding Egypt’s views on the urgency of advancing the peace process towards the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state in addition to strengthening the nuclear nonproliferation regime.

In the Middle East Council of the Carolinas, I had an invaluable conversation over dinner with several Carolinas’ prominent figures who are dedicating time and efforts to foster understanding a between the Middle Eastern community and the community at large in North and South Carolinas.

Members of the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte at Shalom Park have also been very warm in greeting me, and I had a candid and very interesting dialogue with them on the ongoing developments in the Middle East.

Being at Charlotte, one of the largest banking centers in the United States, offered also a unique opportunity to reach out with leading business figures in North Carolina. In this regard, I had a thorough dialogue on the Egyptian Economy’s performance and Egypt-US economic relations, and I hope that such outreach will contribute in raising awareness on trade and investment opportunities with Egypt.

In a nutshell, it was a pleasure visiting Charlotte, and I’m personally grateful for the enthusiasm and support of all the people who were involved in the organization of the visit.

Sameh Shoukry

The Egyptian Ambassador’s visit to Charlotte took place from April 18 till 20. Mr. Shoukry concluded his visit with a TV interview at News 14 Charlotte with Rob Boisvert.

To read the press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, please click here.

After a mediocre 2009, the economy is finally bouncing back, and the construction industry is poised to lead the way.

A recent Cabinet report expects annual GDP growth to hit 5.1%, with construction the third strongest sector, growing at 11.5% (behind hospitality, 13.1%, and information and communication technologies, 12.8%).

Analysts at EFG-Hermes have raised GDP growth forecasts from 4.5% to 4.8% and cite contributions from the construction industry as a driving force behind the increase. A government stimulus package that targets infrastructure projects helped revive the industry, which had virtually ground to a halt during the economic crisis.

Experts are optimistic about construction growth, centered on new infrastructure, housing and tourist developments, but warn that shortages in cement and steel could place limits on the upward trend.

And while there is widespread agreement on the promising future of the construction industry, affiliated industry leader opinions vary on the sectors that are most effectively pushing growth forward.

Stimulus

The construction industry suffered like any other during the global downturn, but a massive government stimulus helped it stay alive. A Beltone financial report states that the fiscal stimulus will total LE 33 billion between FY2008-FY2010.

At the Economist Intelligence Unit roundtable held on February 15, Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali indicated that the government will propose additional public projects to push growth over 5%. He also said that the government hopes to attract investments valuing LE 20–25 billion over the next five years through its Public Private Partnership (PPP) strategy.

Injecting funds into infrastructure projects to increase broad economic activity is a standard move for governments and has seen success in a variety of contexts. According to Dr. Ahmed Anees, former director of the Center for Real Estate Evaluation Experts at Cairo University, “This is the usual global policy whenever there is a recession, not only in Egypt. Investing in infrastructure is the most common solution as it creates jobs and expands public utilities for growth,” he says.

If there is any criticism of the government’s stimulus plan, it is that the plan should be more aggressive. “The country needs a lot of infrastructure; I believe that the best strategy to build roads, bridges, ports, etc. for a population of 80 million, would be BOT [build-operate-transfer],” says Dr. Ahmad Mattar, chairman of the Arab Union for Real Estate Development. “The [stimulus] packages are relatively insufficient for a real estate market that is worth LE 1 trillion.”

The BOT model is a form of PPP where a private company builds the infrastructure and operates it for a set amount of time in order for the company to turn a profit, but then transfers control of the infrastructure to the government after that time has elapsed. By giving private companies an incentive to use their own money in projects, the government is able to take on construction on a larger scale without substantially increasing the national debt.

Housing

Though the construction sector certainly benefitted from the stimulus, it is not completely reliant on government spending to survive. Egypt is one of the fastest growing nations in the world, and Mattar contends that demographic growth is the main factor behind the construction sector’s recovery.

“There’s a real increasing demand on housing due to the 2.1 percent annual growth in Egypt’s population, which represents an extra 1.4 million inhabitants every year that require an increase of 600,000 housing units,” he says. He points out that the cultural importance of owning a home before marrying also drives demand for residential building.

The former director of the National Center for Housing and Construction Research, Amr Ezzat, noted that the construction sector employs more than 4 million workers in an interview with the Emirati newspaper Alrro’ya.

But even with so many workers, he estimates that only about 60% of demand for residential housing is currently being met. (He also admits that this is a notoriously difficult percentage to estimate accurately.)

Tourism

With a wealth of ancient monuments and beautiful coastlines on two sides, Egypt is a perennially popular tourist destination. As the global economy continues to recover, new hotels and resorts are being built to accommodate the expected tourism surge.

Business Monitor International reported on March 10 that tourism dropped 2.3% in 2009. The report maintains that the drop is not as severe as industry experts had anticipated, given the economic climate, and that the tourism sector is positioned for a strong recovery in 2010.

Tourism growth fuels construction along the Red Sea and the Mediterranean as domestic and foreign investors increase capacity to accommodate travelers.

Anees claims that outside of government contracts, tourism is the primary driver of new construction. “Most projects are in the direction of tourism, [] other construction sectors are dominated by the government,” says Anees.

One example, according to Gulf News, is that the city of Marsa Matrouh currently has 29 separate construction projects underway with the goal of eventually accommodating up to 30 million visitors a year.

Governor of Marsa Matrouh Ahmed Hussein told Gulf News, “The project will help us bring in over $10 million (LE 55 million) worth of investments to Egypt, and will create more than 61,000 job opportunities.”

Steel and Cement

Even with these three sources of growth, a full recovery is not guaranteed. “Construction helps the growth of [numerous] industries that start with cement and steel and end with electric cables and water tanks,” says Mattar, highlighting the ability of the construction industry to spur overall growth.

But the industries that construction depends on could alternately hold it back.

At the Davos Economic Forum, Minister of Trade and Industry Rasheed Mohamed Rasheed announced that Egypt will issue draft permits for the construction of eight new cement plants.

Rasheed hopes that the new plants will start producing by 2014 or 2015 in order to help meet local demand, which increased 16% in 2009.

Responding to market forces, the two largest national cement companies, Suez and Amreya, attempted to increase prices by LE 22 per ton to reach LE 455, but in the end both companies backed off.

Rasheed’s legal advisor, Hisham Ragab said that the two companies backpedaled in response to a government warning, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm.

The steel sector is more complicated, reflecting the partially liberalized state of the economy. Local producers are asking for protection from importers, who want to profit over locally inflated prices.

Turkish steel producers rely heavily on scrap, while Egyptian firms rely on iron ore, which has the effect of making Turkish steel LE 200 cheaper per ton. This led Egyptian authorities to consider pursuing an anti-dumping case against Turkish importers, though further action failed to materialize.

While the cheap steel is welcome by builders now, undercutting local producers makes the construction industry more vulnerable to global price fluctuations, potentially creating problems down the road.

But Anees has great confidence in real estate investments. “Real estate was and still is safer [than investing in the stock market]. It will be the same or even grow faster in the near future.”

Egypt recorded a 24 percent increase in tourism revenue in the first quarter of 2010 as the industry recovered from last year’s global financial crisis, said Egypt’s tourism minister, Zoheir Garranah.

According to Garranah, revenue increased to $2.7 billion for the three months through March, and tourist arrivals advanced 29 percent to 3.46 million visitors. “We have completely rebounded,” he said.

The modern Egyptian economy depends on tourism, foreign direct investment and the Suez Canal for foreign currency. Tourism, which accounts for more than 12 percent of jobs in modern Egypt, generated $10.76 billion in 2009, according to the ministry.

Besides its historical attractions, Egypt also draws tourists seeking sun, sand and diving along its Red Sea coast and in the Sinai Peninsula. Russia is still the largest source of tourists to Egypt, as arrivals from Russia grew 93.5 percent in the first quarter and revenue increased 80 percent over the same period in 2009, the minister said.

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Revenue increased to $2.7 billion for the three months through March, Zoheir Garranah said in a telephone interview today from the city of Luxor in southern Egypt. Tourist arrivals advanced 29 percent to 3.46 million visitors, he said.

“We have completely rebounded,” Garranah said. “But still I believe this country deserves more.”

The Egyptian economy depends on tourism, foreign direct investment and the Suez Canal for foreign currency. Tourism, which accounts for more than 12 percent of jobs, generated $10.76 billion in 2009, according to the ministry.

The economy of Egypt, home to the Pyramids of Giza, grew 4.7 percent in the fiscal year through June, beating the forecast of the International Monetary Fund. The government expects the economy to grow more than 5 percent this fiscal year.

Besides its historical attractions, Egypt also draws tourists seeking sun, sand and diving along its Red Sea coast and in the Sinai Peninsula. Russia maintained its position as the main source of tourists to the Arab country, with arrivals from the country growing 93.5 percent in the first quarter and revenue increasing 80 percent over the same period in 2009, the minister said.

Expectations

Beltone Financial had expected tourism revenue in the first three months to be $2.8 billion, Reham El-Desoki, senior economist at the Cairo-based investment bank, said by e-mail. EFG-Hermes Holding SAE, the biggest publicly traded Arab investment bank, had expected receipts to reach $2.5 billion, economist Mohamed Abu Basha said.

Talaat Moustafa Group Holding, which owns four hotels operated by Four Seasons Hotels Inc., rose 0.5 percent to 8.41 Egyptian pounds at 13:27 p.m. today in Cairo, outperforming the benchmark EGX30 index, which advanced 0.1 percent.
 

To view the article from its original source, please click here. 

To view this interview on PBS, please click here.

PASCAGOULA, MS (WLOX) - VT Halter Marine will build its first Egyptian defense ship to help fight the global war on terror. This Egyptian investment is expected to create hundreds of jobs for South Mississippians. The Jackson County shipbuilder held a special keel laying ceremony Wednesday to celebrate construction.

U.S. Navy men and women watched as a global partnership was sealed with sparks and fire. Egypt's Chief Naval commander traced his initials into the keel of his nation's first missile ship to be built in Mississippi at VT Halter Marine.

"The Egyptians were very interested in the design VT Halter had," U.S. Rear Admiral William Landay said.

U.S. Rear Admiral Landay spent two years helping his Egyptian counterparts work with the shipbuilder to design the Navy Fast Missile Craft. The state of the art ship will be 200 feet long with advanced technology, exceptional security and fighting capabilities.

"It will be a very capable ship, and it has missiles to attack other ships, and it has guns and radar."

Rear Admiral Landay said the ship will patrol and protect the country's coastline and canals.

"It will be a player in their region and that is what the Egyptian Navy was looking for."

This is one of four ships the foreign country has hired VT Halter to build for $807 million. Company CEO Build Skinner said this project will surely keep his shipbuilder busy and create more jobs.

"It is going to provide employment through the end of 2013," Skinner said. "We will add an additional 300 jobs."

Skinner said to be able to build up a workforce in this weak economy is great news for the company and those craftsmen looking for work.

"Our industry, right now, is somewhat slow, and we have the opportunity to build on an existing program and start this program is, to us, exciting for us."

The Navy and VT Halter Marine hope this investment is another step in the global fight to keep the waterways safe. The first Egyptian ship is expected to be delivered in 2012.

To view the original piece on WLOX's website, please click here.

Keel laid for Egyptian navy ship
April 8, 2010

VT Halter Marine's $807 million deal to build four fast missile craft for the Egyptian navy exemplifies friendship and trust between the two nations, leaders said during a keel laying ceremony for the first ship.

"The FMC is a key program in the relationship between our two countries," Halter Marine EGYPTIAN NAVY 1.JPGApril Havens/Press-RegisterVice Adm. Mohab Mameesh, commander in chief of the Egyptian navy, right, authenticates the keel for the first of four fast missile craft vessels being built by VT Halter Marine in Pascagoula. Lucedale resident Ray Stuart, who has been a pipe welder at VT Halter Marine for 20 years, left, assists the official in welding his initials into the keel plate as U.S. Navy officials look on. CEO Bill Skinner said during the event held Wednesday at the company's Pascagoula yard.

The fast missile craft is designed to perform coastal patrol, surveillance, interdiction, surface strike and naval battle group support.

Vice Adm. Mohab Mameesh, commander in chief of the Egyptian navy, said the ships will allow Egypt to "gain stability" and "establish and maintain war and peace" while securing its coasts and the Suez Canal.

"We offer our thanks and deepest appreciation to the U.S. government," Mameesh said, offering "best wishes for ... people in both countries."

VT Halter Marine announced in December 2005 that it had a $29 million design contract for the vessel, and subsequent contract modifications raised the contract to $249.2 million.

In a second phase, awarded in September 2008, the contract for constructing the first three vessels raised the deal to about $642 million. The fourth ship, worth an additional $165 million, was contracted last month.

The first vessel is slated for completion by mid 2012, and the fourth vessel should be done by yearend of 2013.

Rear Adm. William E. Landay III, program executive officer for U.S. Navy ships, said the keel laying was a chance to "celebrate a platform, a program and a partnership."

In 2009, Landay's office secured 180 craft for partner navies and coast guards around the world, he said, noting a global partnership benefits the U.S. as much as its ally countries.

Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations for the U.S. Navy, agreed.

"The laying of this keel is cause for celebration," he said. "The Egyptian navy is indeed a true friend of ours."

After the event, U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Bay St. Louis, said these deals have a great impact on defense contractors on the Gulf Coast and nationwide.

"It comes down to high paying skill jobs here in South Mississippi," said Taylor, who is chairman of the subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces within the House Armed Services Committee.

Skinner said the four-ship contract will allow the company to hire 300 new workers over the next 15 months.

The company currently employs around 1,500 at its Pascagoula, Moss Point and Escatawpa yards.

To read the story from Gulf Live, please click here.

The number of mobile phone subscriptions in Egypt rose by 642,000 to 56.49 million in February, according to communications ministry data. The figures amount to a penetration rate of around 72 per cent, although industry executives and analysts estimate that some 20 to 25 per cent of the market involves second phones. January subscriptions were 55.848 million.

Most see room for growth up to around 65 million accounts, or 85 per cent of the population. A year ago the three mobile firms -- Mobinil, Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat Egypt -- had 43.49 million subscribers in Egypt, whose population is 78 million.

The communications minister said in January that a fourth mobile licence could be offered depending on factors such as available spectrum and revenue as well as subscriber growth. The state-owned landline monopoly Telecom Egypt has expressed an interest in any new licence, holding off on a dividend payment last month ahead of a possible bid.

Growth in subscriptions has slowed in recent months after jumping 1.67 million in December. More than a million accounts had been created every month since late in 2008 as the three operators offered heavily discounted on-network plans to garner customers. In October subscriptions fell.

Over the years, Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass has made the return of looted Egyptian artifacts the hallmark of his tenure and won many battles to bring home Pharaonic items and other ancient relics.

In March, Egypt said it retrieved from Britain some 25,000 ancient artifacts, including a stone axe dating back 200,000 years and pottery from the seventh millennium BC.

To read the full article, please click here.

 

The two-day conference will be attended by antiquities officials, deputy culture ministers and museum directors from 16 countries that have seen some of their national heritage stolen over the centuries.

Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) said the forum will discuss "the protection and restitution of cultural heritage".

Delegates will also draw up lists of artefacts missing from their countries and displayed in museums abroad, treasures they have been demanding be returned, the SCA said.

The conference will also call on the UN cultural body Unesco to amend a convention that bans export or ownership of stolen antiquities acquired after 1970.

The convention deals with the "means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property", but stipulates there will be no "retro-active" measure for artefacts acquired before the convention was signed in 1970.

Crusader Hawass

Over the years, Egypt's antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass has made the return of looted Egyptian artefacts the hallmark of his tenure and won many battles to bring home Pharaonic items and other ancient relics.

In March, Egypt said it retrieved from Britain some 25 000 ancient artefacts, including a stone axe dating back 200 000 years and pottery from the seventh millennium BC.

But Hawass is still eyeing two high profile objects: the Rosetta stone held by the British Museum for more than 200 years and the 3 400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti on display at the Neues Museum in Berlin.

The iconic Rosetta stone, which dates back to 196 BC, was found by French forces in Egypt in 1799 and given to the British under a treaty two years later.

Its discovery led to a breakthrough in deciphering hieroglyphics, as it gives the same text in the ancient Egyptian script, plus the demotic Egyptian that was the common language and Greek, which was the language of officialdom.

Luxor and the Louvre

As for the Nefertiti bust, Germany has repeatedly rebuffed Egyptian claims to the rightful ownership of it and says the priceless sculpture was acquired legally nearly a century ago. Egypt says it was spirited out of the country.

Last year Egypt broke off relations with the Louvre Museum until France finally returns stolen steles chipped off a wall painting in the ancient tomb in Luxor's Valley of the Kings.

Greece, one of the countries attending the conference, will chair a session devoted to "problems facing the countries in their attempt to retrieve their antiquities," Hawass has said.

Athens has been locked in a 30-year antiquities "war" with London to retrieve the Elgin Marbles from the British Musuem.

Since becoming head of antiquities in 2002, Hawass has helped Egypt reclaim 31 000 relics from abroad. Last year he insisted that "what has been stolen from us must be returned".

Thirty countries were invited to attend but only 16 are sending representatives: Bolivia, China, Cyprus, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Iraq, Italy, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korean, Spain, Sri Lanka and Syria.

To read the orginal article, please click here.

Preparations for Easter commence with a 55-day fast when cereals and foods of plant origin cooked in olive oil form the main diet. No animal products -- no meat, eggs, milk or fish -- are consumed, nor even coffee. Spring is in the air, and on street corners in predominantly Christian areas of Cairo, palm-fronds woven into crosses of all sizes are sold on street corners. Some are rosettes in an exquisite design which people hang on the front doors of their houses. Others adorn the sitting room, and smaller ones are hung in bedrooms. Palm fronds and any early spring growth is a feature of Easter -- rebirth in every sense of the word.

Palm Sunday falls a week before the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem shortly before his Passion, as mentioned in all four canonical gospels, and the ritual is reminiscent of ancient times when the Pharaoh, having returned in triumph after victory over his enemies, was met with green branches, the blossoms of Spring, glorifying him as saviour and victor. Likewise, when Jesus Christ returned to the Holy Land he was met by multitudes waving palm branches, a symbol of victory over those who would do him harm, and to us today symbolising resurrection.

During Holy Week ( Isbu Al-Alam or "Week of Pain" in Arabic) the Passion of Jesus Christ is celebrated with specific events in the last week in his life, culminating in Palm Sunday ( Hadd Al-Zaaf ) when, as in the early church, the priest blesses fronds of the date palm and a procession is formed. The clergy, bearing the cross, incense tapers and palm fronds, move round the church, praying at each altar, the principal icons, and the reliquaries. On this day, Copts also remember their own dear departed, visit family graves, and place palm fronds and bunches of flowers around their tombs.

On Good Friday, which the Copts call Al-Gomaa Al-Hazina or "Sad Friday", church altars are draped in black. This is followed by Sabt Al-Nur, "Saturday of Light", so named after the miraculous light that appeared in the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The bishop, in full ecclesiastical attire with stole and crown, and assisted by the clergy who forms a semicircle around him, stands before the elaborately adorned sanctuary screen of the church. Young deacons in long white robes assist in the service. Special prayers are said for the troubled and ailing, and, incidentally for "the River Nile" and for the "fruits of the earth".

The opening of the door of the sanctuary to reveal the holy inner chambers with the altar is an act that symbolises the rolling away of the stone from the tomb where Jesus was laid, and from which he arose. The bishop and the clergy then raise their crosses and banners high in jubilation and proceed round the church, intoning a joyous hymn. Holy Communion follows, with members of the congregation first shaking hands, symbolising fellowship, and then lining up (men and women separately) to receive the Eucharist.

Seven round loaves of freshly-baked bread made of the finest wheat flour are baked in a special oven by a member of the church. These are offered to the bishop, who carefully inspects each one to select the perfect one to represent the faultlessness of Jesus. The bread must not, according to long-established tradition, be cut with a knife, but should always be broken by hand in a special manner. The pieces are dipped in the holy wine -- unfermented wine made by soaking dried grapes in water which is distributed to churches in large wicker-covered jars.

Having received the Eucharist (standing, not kneeling), the clergy move along the aisle to give a final blessing, and as the congregation rises to leave the church, they utter such phrases as "Christ has risen", and "Indeed, He has risen". It is a joyous occasion. Easter celebrations provide a spiritual and dramatic narrative of the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ, from the sorrows of his Passion through to the spirited tempo of Easter, his resurrection.

One cannot help but be moved by Coptic hymns and chants for the celebration of Lent, Holy Week, the Passion of Christ and "Light" Saturday, through to the magnificent Resurrection chants. And so, in conclusion, I would add that the late Ragheb Moftah, one of the founders of the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies in the 1950s, established a music division and formed the first Coptic Orthodox Choir. Moftah sought out the most accomplished cantors and deacons, and spent his lifetime preserving the musical heritage of the church. He established two centres to teach Coptic chant melodies, one in Bab Al-Hadid and the other in Old Cairo, and subjected his talented students to a rigorous training programme, recording their voices, and eventually completing the entire corpus of Coptic Orthodox liturgical chants.

As members of the congregation exit the church, many purchase sacred loaves which, like the Eucharist bread, are stamped with a cross at the centre, representing Jesus, and with 12 small crosses representing his disciples. These are later broken into pieces and placed under children's pillows as a personal blessing.

Easter is a time for alms-giving, part of an age-old tradition in the Nile Valley, when those of means help people less fortunate than themselves. It is also a time for good fellowship and, of course, merry-making by children. They walk along the streets, usually in groups to show off their new clothes bought especially for the occasion. Those with bicycles weave crinkly coloured paper into the spokes of their bicycles. Groups frequently hire a donkey-cart to travel along the main thoroughfares of the city, and the sounds of singing and drum-beating fill the air. Easter is a long holiday weekend, and an extremely popular one, because the following day, Monday, is Sham Al-Nessim (literally "smell the breeze"), the official first day of Spring and a national celebration for the whole population, Muslim and Christian, which has its origin in an ancient Egyptian festival associated with the rebirth of the land.

Egypt’s national soccer team has moved up three places to fourteenth in the world, according to the latest Fifa world rankings released on Wednesday. With Hassan Shehata as their coach, The Pharaoh’s are the highest ranked soccer team in Africa.

World Cup-bound Cameroon is the only other team from the continent in the world's top 20.

Spain retained the top spot, while Portugal and England both improved their positions in the top 10.

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Hassan Shehata's team, who lost 3-1 to England in their latest friendly, is the highest ranked African team.

World Cup-bound Cameroon is the only other side from the continent in the world's top 20.

Spain retained top spot while Portugal and England both improved their positions in the top 10.

European champions Spain lead second-place Brazil and the third-placed Netherlands, with Portugal fourth after climbing two places.

Most team slides in the rankings came about because points earned from World Cup qualifiers played in March 2009 lost their value.

To view the article from its original source, please click here.

President Hosni Mubarak is to leave a German hospital in the coming days, after a gallbladder operation earlier this month, a spokeswoman for the clinic said Wednesday.

"Doctors had not yet decided when exactly the 81-year-old would be released," a spokeswoman for Heidelberg University Clinic was quoted by Egypt's official Middle East News Agency ( MENA) as saying.

She added, however, that health was stable enough for this to happen in the next few days.

"The doctors said they were happy with Mubarak's recovery and said he was in good health after the strain of the surgery," the spokeswoman said.

The president had his gall-bladder removed in the German hospital on March 6, after being diagnosed with a serious inflammation.

Meanwhile, Gamal Mubarak, the son of Egypt's president, and his wife have had a baby girl, state news agency MENA said on Tuesday.

Farida Gamal Hosni Mubarak was the first child born to Gamal, 46, and his wife Khadija el-Gammal.

The 46-year-old former investment banker married Gammal, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, in 2007.
Members of Mubarak's family have been by his bedside regularly, but MENA did not say where the baby girl, the president's first granddaughter, was born nor whether Gamal Mubarak was at the birth.
Mohamed, one of the president's two grandsons from his son, Alaa, died unexpectedly aged 12 last May. The president has worn a black tie in public since then.

Mubarak has not said if he will run for a sixth six-year term in the 2011 presidential election. Many Egyptians believe that, if he does not, he will try to hand power to his politician son. Both Mubaraks deny any such plan.

In 1978, as crowds packed the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s blockbuster “King Tut,” Steve Martin had a hit with the novelty song about the doomed pharaoh. “Now, if I’d known they’d line up just to see him, I’d trade in all my money and bought me a museum.” Thirty years later, the boy king, his fellow rulers and their fortunes are back on view in New York—resurrected from their climate-controlled sarcophagi for the Met, the Brooklyn Museum and, in April, for a special exhibition space in Times Square.

Centuries-old vases, Coptic headpieces and golden royal trinkets have begun to arrive to go on display in a trio of warring, would-be audience draws. Why the sudden mummification of New York? Combine a healthy sense of box office competition with children’s love of all things creepy, and you have part of the answer. But there’s a little backstory, too, about the politics that brought King Tutankhamun to New York—but not to either of its two museums known around the world for their Egyptology departments.

First, the story of the king: He ruled in the 18th dynasty, with little distinguishing his short tenure, historians say, save for a move from one god back to many. He died in about 1327 B.C., at age 18 or 19. In recent years, various C.S.I.-like scientific groups have sought to find out why, with murder, a broken leg or malaria being the most common conclusions. In 1922, his tomb—KV62, a phrase still said by Egyptologists with awe—was found, its spectacular contents intact. Decades later, in a blockbuster dreamed up by Richard Nixon in a cold war swipe at the Russians (according to the letters of former Met museum director Thomas Hoving), those treasures toured the U.S. Tut broke all existing records for museum attendance.

But when Egypt proposed a reunion tour in 2004, the Met, surprisingly, balked. The Egyptian government was charging such hefty fees for the loan that the exhibit would have required a separate admission charge above the current “suggested $20.” Philippe de Montebello, director of the Met, passed. Brooklyn demurred, too, in part because, frankly, they don’t need loans, said Eric Bleiberg, curator of the current show there. The museum’s 9,000-strong collection of relics from the region is “an Egyptologist’s candy store,” he notes.

Ohio-based Arts and Exhibitions International, best known for its “Princess Diana: A Celebration” show, nonetheless went forward with a multi-city deal. “We pay the Egyptians a large guarantee and they participate” in the revenues generated by the show, said AEI president John Norman. Egypt’s Antiquities division had said it hopes to garner $40 million from the five-year tour, revenues that will go toward the construction of a museum. At the exhibition, a busy gift shop features “Kooky Mummy Pens” for $4.95”; Indiana Jones–style “explorer” hats; Halloween masks; and three styles of refrigerator magnet. There’s even a private event space for rental. “Party with the Boy King … enjoy themed menus … hold your event at Pharaoh’s Palace,” the exhibition’s marketing material invites.

For years, the tour criss-crossed the country, to Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia and San Francisco. It looked like New York would be one of the few major cities to miss Tut. But, when The New York Times relocated and a company retrofitted the printing plant to make an exhibition space, AEI found a climate-controlled, 20,000-square-foot home for the show in New York. “King Tut and the Golden Age of the Pharoahs” opens April 23 at the Discovery Center in Times Square. The show, with a $27.50 admission fee for adults, features relics from both other pharaohs and Tut, although not all the same treasures that toured decades ago. (Some don’t leave Egypt anymore.)

Brooklyn says its current show was already in the works when Tut booked Manhattan. But on May 5, it opens a show with two actual mummies (something the “Golden Age” blockbuster conspicuously lacks). And the Met’s “Funeral” exhibition was only announced recently. Mr. Norman said he’s not surprised to find that New York will be flush with Egypt shows. “People get Tut fever,” he said. “We take it as a benefit.” Their shows “will help to create that Egyptomania buzz,” he said. But, “we are the main exhibit.”

What’s Tut’s great drawing power? Antiquities dealer Sam Merrin, owner of his own $1.1 million mummy and sarcophagus (currently on loan to the Houston Museum of Art), explains: “It’s the only royal tomb found intact, and the quality and quantity of material was unheard of. Then, there’s the curse.” Illness struck several people who excavated the site, but whether it was bacteria or posthumous royal fury is still undetermined. Lastly, notes Mr. Merrin, “kids love mummies; they’re spooky.”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Tut” show, which opened last week, certainly has both the scholarly and the ghoulish touches. “Tutankhamun’s Funeral,” a small but top-quality show, features funerary remains from near the circa 1327 B.C. tomb. There are clay vessels with leftovers from his embalming, pottery used in the funeral meal, linen bandages, preserved collars of flowers and a sculpture of the monarch. The burial relics in the show were a gift to the Met from the New York City–born explorer Theodore M. Davis, who excavated in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings a century ago. He tragically gave up after years of digging, believing there was nothing more to find, when he was within striking distance of Tut’s treasures. The Met’s own employee of a century ago, Harry Burton, photographed the Valley of the Kings for the museum.

Sensitive to concerns that their show could appear to be trying to head the Egyptian loan off at the pass, curator Dorothea Arnold stressed: “We are accompanying theirs. We are friends with Egypt. There is no war going on.” Museums, to some degree, like to stay on the right side of Egypt, since the nation has been among the most vociferous in claiming their relics back from international museums. (They’re still trying to get back the Rosetta Stone, now in the British Museum, that Napoleon’s army seized in 1799.)

Other exhibition artifact shows are welcome to the party, Mr. Norman said. Of course, they’re not from the hallowed KV62. Only AEI’s exhibition will feature material from King Tut. And why not? As Steve Martin put it: “He gave his life for tourism.”

For decades, Arabic fiction was associated with the name of one man: Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize for literature. Nearly four years after his death, his native Egypt is experiencing an unprecedented fiction explosion from a new generation.

Unlike their predecessors, the expanding group of young authors putting out a barrage of celebrated novels in recent years has grown bored with tackling big political issues. Instead, they explore the deeply personal, day-to-day life and hidden ills of society, writing candidly on taboo topics.

And they have turned to a more accessible language, peppered with Arabic pop culture and often infused with the writing styles of the Internet, building an audience among Egypt's younger middle class. The fiction renaissance has fueled — and been fueled by — a spread of "Borders"-style bookstores, complete with cafes and reading areas, and of new prestigious Arab literary prizes.

"It is amazing that this kind of fiction has gained popularity when you consider the spread and influence of religious conservatism," said one of the most prominent new authors, Hamdi Abu Golayyel.

"We are closer to everyday issues," said Abu Golayyel, 42. "Our works have dropped dealing with the big issues and shaken off the burden of attempting to write prose for posterity."

While many in the new wave of literature are not overtly political, their focus on personal alienation brings a more subtle call for change in a country that has been ruled by authoritarian governments for decades and where nearly half of the population of 80 million live in poverty or close to it.

It's a contrast to earlier generations of Arab writers. The literary titan Mahfouz was best known for his sweeping depictions of Egyptian society and mores. Novelists from the 1970s-1990s often tackled issues of life under dictatorship and the direction of the Arab world after military defeats at the hands of Israel.

Abu Golayyel's latest, "A Dog With No Tail," is considered one of the most representative of the new wave. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of a poor Bedouin villager who lives as a migrant construction worker in Cairo. Told with humor, it follows the protagonist through some of the darkest sides of living in the big city — prostitution, drug abuse and a harsh class system.

"My friends and I were almost completely shut out, walking the streets of Cairo like we were citizens of another, faraway country we yearn to go back to," he writes of the peripheral life of the city's underclass.

A darker example is the 2010 novel "Farewell to Heaven" by Hamed Abdel-Samad, the tale of a childhood defined by the narrator's repeated rape by older boys and the later discovery that the father he revered as a wise religious leader was no different than any other man in his village. He settles in liberal and more forgiving Europe, but it does little to ease his scars, and he eventually enters a psychiatric institution in Germany.

The new generation's style is perhaps best typified in the 2003 "Being Abbas el Abd," told in a fragmented form intertwined with pop culture references, often in a sort of "emoticon" Arabic used in writing mobile phone text messages.

Written by Ahmed al-Aidy, it tells the story of a video store clerk whose job brings him into daily contact with Western culture. Much of his daily life revolves around his mobile phone and the SMS messages he sends.

Poor and socially immobile, the narrator cries "glory be to my favorite bar of soap" — a reference to his habit of masturbating to deal with unfulfilled sexual desires.

"James Joyce's 'Ulysses' is considered among the best books of the last century. But reading it is more of a challenge than a pleasure," said al-Aidy, 35, whose novel has been translated into English, Italian, Dutch and Turkish.

"In today's world, books compete with a cinema ticket or a pack of cigarettes for entertainment. If you don't capture the reader from the first page, he is gone forever," he said.

More recently, Mazen al-Aqaad's 2009 novel "Lost Anger" dives into the world of the Internet, an increasingly important social gathering point for young Egyptians.

The young narrator administers a chat room for men and women who share his desire for suicide because of their traumatic lives. The participants eventually organize a party to celebrate a young couple who decide to kill themselves. The couple changes their mind in the last-minute and the disappointed revelers become angry and beat them to death.

Egypt's fiction boom has rendered obsolete a common saying that in the Arab world, books are written in Cairo, published in Beirut and read in Baghdad. Today, all three stages are done in one place — Egypt.

The number of copies sold remain modest, however. As few as 10,000 earn a book a best-seller tag.

The biggest seller has been the 2002 novel seen as kicking off the new wave — Alaa al-Aswany's "Yacoubian Building." It depicts an Egypt where the dreams of the poor are constantly shattered, while corruption, social injustices and religious extremism flourish.

Its success opened the floodgates for fiction, said Hind Wassef, a co-founder of Diwan, a chain of American-style bookshops complete with coffee, loyalty cards and special offers.

"It is a fiction market," she said, "And we go out of our way to stock an excellent collection of fiction. It is what sells."

Many of those involved in the new wave hope that it will have a social impact.

"While not political, the intellectual stimulation created by all this fiction will one day bring about reform and help contain the dangers of religious extremism and sectarianism," said Mohammed Hashem, founder of Dar Merit, publisher of "Being Abbas al-Abd" and many of the more experimental new works.

"If I live another 10 years, I may finally see everything I have tried to do bear fruit," said Hashem.

Businessmen and investors from at least 23 countries met this week at the Fourth Cairo Investment Forum to discuss their next move as the global recession begins to wane. The two- day event brought both good and bad news.

According to World Bank (WB) Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) Vice- President Shamshad Akhtar there is enough evidence that the region weathered the economic and financial crisis well, "yet, this should not be a cause for complacency." She added that additional disruptions, like the recent Dubai events, short-term and long-term impacts of the losses emerging from the global financial crisis and the slow convergence of the region's per capita GDP to levels similar to those of higher income countries are all factors that render the region vulnerable.

According to WB statistics, economic growth in MENA fell by 2.6 per cent in 2009 which is significantly less than the four per cent decline observed in the advanced economies thanks to little direct exposure to the epicentre of the shock, which were the toxic assets of financial systems in developed countries and the limited role of private investment in these economies compared to the rest of the world. "This helped minimise the impact of the shock on overall investment," she said.

According to Akhtar, most MENA countries adopted prudent fiscal stances prior to the crisis which helped bring down public debt/GDP ratios. For instance, Egypt's public debt ratio has fallen by almost 20 per cent since 2006, "which gave the country sufficient room for policy manoeuvrability while taking steps to stimulate the economy."

In its attempt to drive out of the dark tunnel, President Hosni Mubarak underlined that Egypt has adopted a stimulus plan to encourage more investment into more diversified infrastructure projects and greater attention has been given to the developmental dimension in the governorates of Upper Egypt. In his speech, delivered on his behalf by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Mubarak declared that the government will soon inject more investment in Upper Egypt. Projects include a natural gas pipe extension to Aswan as well as the renovation and establishment of new airports and roads in Upper Egypt. "Assiut airport is now being developed. A new airport in Sohag will be inaugurated and the Upper Egypt-Red Sea road connecting Upper Egypt governorates to the Red Sea ports will soon become operational," said Nazif.

This month, the Egyptian Chemical Industries Company, better known as Kima, in Aswan received its first share of natural gas as the farthest southward destination to where natural gas has so far been transported.

Other projects include the establishment of a new marina in Luxor, medical compounds in Alexandria and 6 October governorates in addition to a number of projects northwest of the Suez Gulf.

According to Mahmoud Mohieldin, minister of investment, these projects will be concluded in full partnership with the private sector. "In order to attract these investments, we have to maintain growth rates above five per cent and keep the budget deficit at round seven per cent of GDP," he said.

Mohieldin indicated that a full package of investment-friendly laws and regulations has been adopted during the past four years to encourage more investment inflows in the country. In addition to dispute settlement mechanism and safe exits from the market, the cabinet will soon be discussing the draft of a new law that will regulate microfinance lending as a step towards encouraging this vital sector to have a more secure and diversified access to finance.

Access to finance tops the list of challenges facing the sector. "It is important to stress the fact that there are at least six million micro- enterprises in the country which statistically represent a large segment of society estimated at no less than 25 million people. It is a huge market and the financial gap in this market is estimated at almost 90 per cent," said Amr Abul-Azm, vice-chairman and CEO of a company providing development services to micro- enterprises. Notably, the SME sector in Egypt contributes at least 70 per cent of the nation's GDP. According to Osama Saleh, chairman of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), at least 85 per cent of the companies established during the year fall within the small and medium-size category.

A step on the right direction is the establishment of Bedaya or "The Start" as a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) service provider that will be entrusted with the task of encouraging these enterprises to start a business development plan, train owners and workers to adopt entrepreneurial skills, help assemble industries in clusters to provide high quality products and finally provide access to finance through banks and companies according to certain regulations that are now being studied by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

On the regional front, Egypt has decided to contribute to a $2 billion development initiative that was earlier suggested during an Arab economic and social development summit held in Kuwait last January. The development initiative is mainly aimed at providing required financial resources to SMEs.

"Al-Azhar will continue to be a bastion for tolerance and moderation against extremism and fanaticism," el-Tayyeb said.

President Hosni Mubarak on Friday named el-Tayyeb as the new head of Al-Azhar, which includes a university and a research centre. He has presided over Al-Azhar's University since 2003 and will succeed Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi, who died of a heart attack in Saudi Arabia on March 10.

"All possible means, including the latest technology, will be used to spread moderate Islam across the world," el- Tayyeb said.

He added that a website for the Al- Azhar would be used for this aim. "Also the expatriate students who come to study here, then travel back home could also have a crucial role in helping spread values of tolerance and accepting the other," 64-year-old el-Tayyeb said. Tayyeb was Egypt's Grand Mufti for 18 months between 2002 and 2003. He is considered to be one of the more enlightened Egyptian Sunni clerics, as he speaks fluent English and French and has a PhD in Islamic philosophy from France's Sorbonne University.

He is known for his moderate and progressive opinions and was previously criticised by some Al-Azhar clerics and professors for preferring modern suits to the traditional cloaks worn by nearly all Al-Azhar leaders.

"Through his work as head of Al-Azhar University, el-Tayyeb has proved and shown that he is well capable of being Al Azhar's top cleric," Gamal Awad, a professor at Al-Azhar's Sharia college told The Times of London.

"The man has full understanding of the religion without any complications, and he made some great efforts in making Al-Azhar reach out to Muslims and non-Muslims from all nationalities, and that's exactly what Al-Azhar needs." 

Tayyeb is known for his tough stance against the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's banned-yet-largest opposition group.
In 2006, he condemned a militarystyle parade by Brotherhood students at Al-Azhar University, in which they wore black facemasks "like Hamas, Hizbollah and the Republican Guard in Iran", he said at the time.

He was congratulated yesterday by Pope Shenouda III, Egypt's Coptic Christian Patriarch, and Mohamed Badei, the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Tayyeb, who heads Al-Azhar University's religious dialogue committee, is also a member of the ruling [National Democratic Party] chaired by the president's son Gamal Mubarak. Despite his efforts to maintain a low profile and distancing himself from religious or political controversies, Tayyeb has appeared in the media spotlight on a few occasions.

An international donors conference hosted by Egypt on Sunday raised $850 million for projects intended to ensure the safe return of nearly 3 million people displaced during the war in Darfur.

The one-day conference in Cairo, co-chaired by Egypt and Turkey, was organized by the 57-nation Organization of The Islamic Conference and included representatives from the U.S., European nations, U.N. agencies and aid groups.

Egypt said the conference highlighted the importance of development in achieving peace and stability in Darfur. It said many participants made unspecified aid pledges on top of the $850 million raised.

"The large participation and the pledges made reflect the wide extent of the international commitment and wish in supporting peace and stability in Darfur," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, reading from the meeting's final communique.

To read the full article, please click here.

The one-day conference in Cairo was organized by the 57-nation Organization of The Islamic Conference and included representatives from the U.S., European nations, U.N. agencies and aid groups.

Host Egypt said the conference highlighted the importance of development in achieving peace and stability in Darfur. It said many participants made unspecified aid pledges on top of the dlrs 850 million raised.

"The large participation and the pledges made reflect the wide extent of the international commitment and wish in supporting peace and stability in Darfur," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, reading from the meeting's final communique.

"Development in Darfur is the real guarantee to help refugees back to their homes," Aboul Gheit said.

The biggest donors Sunday were Brazil, The Islamic Bank for Development, Qatar and Turkey. Others pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to finance development projects.

The fighting in Darfur, which began with a 2003 rebellion by groups accusing the government of neglecting the western province, has died down over the past year and peace talks are under way in the Gulf state of Qatar. Many of those displaced, however, are still living in camps and their future is one of the central unresolved issues. An estimated 300,000 people lost their lives to violence, disease and displacement.
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OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told reporters after the meeting that the United States, European countries, Australia and Japan promised generous aid and pledged continued support for the people of Darfur. He gave no figures.

Aboul Gheit said the money raised and pledged will be used to finance development projects in Darfur when peace prevails there and all rebel groups come to agreement with the Sudanese government.

Organizers said they wanted to use the funds for projects in water, health care, housing, education and rural development.

The return of refugees is one of the most contentious issues in the conflict. A majority are displaced within Darfur, but some also fled across the border to neighboring Chad.

Refugees fear the government is forcing their return to their villages or other areas to erase the most sore manifestation of the conflict without actually dealing with the causes of the rebellion.

They also complain that the Sudanese government moved populations around to alter the ethnic makeup of the region. Some refuse to return except to their original villages and not to newly built communities.

Some experts say a change of population centers is inevitable because the return of refugees to their original villages - many of which were torched and destroyed - is inconceivable because of drought and lack of adequate water resources in some cases in the vast, arid region.

Sunday's final communique said participants hoped that the successful peace talks and the signing of cease-fires between the government of Sudan and two rebel groups would be "an incentive for other groups to achieve peace and stability in Darfur."

The peace talks in Qatar have produced cease-fire agreements between the government and one of Darfur's most powerful rebel groups as well as a newly formed umbrella group of smaller rebel factions. Political agreements on the sharing of power and resources are still under discussion.

The Qatar peace conference pledged to start a $1 billion fund for Darfur development.

But the talks have yet to include one of the most influential groups, Sudan's Liberation Movement, which has strong backing among the refugee community.

To read the original article, please click here.

Dr. Tayib was previously a Grand Mufti and most recently served as the President of Al-Azhar University. In total, he has already spent forty years serving in various positions at the institution, which is one of the oldest and most respected schools of Sunni Islam.

President Mubarak remains in the hospital in Heidelberg, where he is making a full recovery from surgery to remove his gall bladder earlier last week. During his stay, he has signed a presidential order authorizing the construction of a Coptic Orthodox church in Helwan Governorate south of Cairo.

President Mubarak also made a number of phone calls, following up on affairs of state with Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif; Dr. Fathi Sorour, President of the People’s Assembly; and Mr. Safwat El-Sherif, President of the Shura Council. He also spoke to the Ministers of Defense, Interior, Foreign Affairs and the Director of Military Intelligence.

In addition, he found time to call H.M King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia to discuss regional developments, as well as Libyan leader Colonel Mouamar Gaddafi.

To see video from Egyptian TV of President Mubarak as he continute to recover, please click here.

More Information on Dr. Al-Tayib:

Professor Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Al-Tayib, was appointed president of Cairo’s Al-Azhar University – the second oldest university in the world and the most influential Sunni institution of higher education, in October 2003. Dr. Al-Tayib leads efforts to promote religious tolerance and reject religious extremism at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, one of the oldest operating universities in the world. Throughout his tenure, he has opened channels of communication with the West and brought computer labs and internet access to the university.

French educated and a former mufti, Professor Al Tayib has authored many books and textbooks in his field and published many monographs on Islamic themes and contemporary issues. He has also translated several works from French into Arabic, treating the mystical thought of the great Andalusian Sufi, Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi. His great interest in interfaith dialogue has led him to participate in many international conferences, and under his watch, Al-Azhar University hosted several international gatherings dealing with interfaith matters as well as contemporary challenges to Islam.

His long academic career spans more than 40 years at Al-Azhar, as a faculty member and where he earned a Master’s of Philosophy and a Ph.D. He was dean of his department, as well as of several of Al-Azhar colleges around Egypt and at the International Islamic University of Pakistan. Outside Egypt, his teaching career includes several years in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Emirates, and Pakistan.
 

Egypt's El Sewedy Cables is looking into supplying wind energy projects in Egypt, the Middle East and African markets to tap growing demand and suitable climates, its investor relations director said on Tuesday.

Research shows that the world market for wind turbine installations was worth about €45 billion ($61.5 billion) in 2009 and that global installed capacity will more than double to 340 gigawatts by 2013.

"Wind energy is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Everyone wants it, and Egypt has high potential to produce such energy," Ahmed El Homosani, Sewedy's investor relations director, told Reuters in an interview.

Sewedy, the largest Arab cable maker by market value, started operating a €40 million ($54.66 million) wind tower plant in Ain Sokhna on Egypt's Red Sea coast on Tuesday to manufacture equipment for electricity-generating wind farms.

"Wind energy does not cost a lot to produce, and its price now is very suitable as a source of energy," Homosani said.

The firm has also invested some €20 million in a turbine factory in Tenth of Ramadan City, on the outskirts of Cairo, which is due to become operational within the next seven to eight months.

Officials say Egypt's combined oil and gas reserves will last the most populous Arab country roughly three decades, encouraging a shift to alternative energy sources, including wind, solar and nuclear.

The North African country, an oil and gas producer, has been developing wind power along its eastern Red Sea coast. It has wind farms at Zafarana and Hurghada in the area and has so far installed capacity of 430 megawatts of wind energy.

Egypt expects to see its wind power capacity reach 7,200 megawatts by 2020 and is already boosting the capacity to 550 megawatts by May.

Sewedy's wind towers plant in Ain Sokhna, a joint venture with Germany-based SIAG Schaaf Industrie AG, will produce 100 towers within its first year of operations and has total capacity to produce 300 towers per year. The plant will mainly provide towers for markets in North Africa and Africa as well as Egypt.

"Electricity consumption in Africa is huge, and there is a big deficit in supply," Homosani said. "So, there is strong potential in this market."

Sewedy has production plants in Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Algeria, Ghana, Zambia, Qatar, and will soon open a plant in Libya.

It said last week it expects to post a 24 percent decline in 2009 unaudited net income to LE 630 million ($115 million), below analysts' forecasts.

The firm might also consider investing in solar energy within the next four to five years if it finds the sector "economically viable," Homosani said.

The solar industry is emerging from a tough 2009, when prices for modules that turn sunlight into electricity fell by more than 40 percent as a glut of supply and difficult financial markets slowed growth for renewable energy sources.

Solar projects in Egypt have lagged behind wind schemes, but the country's first solar power plant will start production by the end of the year, Egypt's electricity minister said earlier this month.

The country has strong solar energy potential due to low rain, clouds and year-round sun.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk will travel to Egypt next week for talks with a key Arab ally that has long wanted a free trade agreement with the United States. Kirk will meet with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohammed and other Egyptian officials, his office said on Wednesday. The trip follows President Barack Obama's visit last year to Cairo, where he gave a speech aimed at improving U.S. relations with the Muslim world. It comes during a rough patch in U.S.-Israeli relations over Israel's plan to build 1,600 more homes for Jews near East Jerusalem, angering Palestinians.

Kirk has downplayed the possibility of a free trade pact with Egypt, but said earlier this month he wanted to explore other avenues for expanding investment and trade. The two countries signed a strategic partnership plan in May to foster increased economic cooperation. Two-way trade between the two countries was a relatively tiny $7.2 billion last year, with the United States enjoying a rare trade surplus of about $3.2 billion. U.S. trade with Israel last year was $28.3 billion and the United States ran a $9.1 billion deficit.

The United States and Egypt were close to launching free trade talks in 2005, but that was derailed when the government of President Hosni Mubarak imprisoned liberal opposition leader Ayman Nour on forgery charges. Nour, who said the charges were politically motivated, was released last year on health grounds after spending more than three years in jail.

The United States has free trade agreements in the greater Middle East with Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain and Oman. Egypt does enjoy duty-free access to the U.S. market for goods produced with Israeli components and assembled within certain "qualifying industrial zones."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Herbert Kercado, an agricultural specialist for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Miami, came across a rather interesting shipment a couple of years ago.

It came in a wooden crate which he closely inspected for the presence of beetles and other insect pests which could threaten trees and crops in the U.S. The crate was apparently clean, but its listed contents seemed peculiar: a wooden sarcophagus.

Kercado, a history buff who watches documentaries on TV, did some quick research, he says, "...through the internet. And [I] found out that some items were stolen from Egypt in the past." The ag specialist notified his superior, and an investigation was launched.

Special agent Vince Menditto, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) caught the case. He was suspicious right away because of the casual way the supposedly-ancient artifact was packed.

"There were no humidity-protection devices inside... There was no acid-free paper," observed the investigator -- just styrofoam peanuts, shredded newspaper, and a felt blanket.

The paperwork trail was a bit hazy also. The 3,000 year old artifact supposedly came from a Spanish museum to an American broker on behalf of a Canadian purchaser. None of the parties could prove the Egyptian government had ever given its permission for removal of this piece of its ancient civilization.

A U.S. judge approved the seizure of the sarcophagus, and competing claims of ownership eventually melted away.

We express our deepest condolences on the passing of Egyptian cleric Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi. As the grand sheikh of Al-Azhar University, he was a voice for faith and tolerance who was widely respected in Muslim communities in Egypt and around the globe, and by many who seek to build a world grounded in mutual respect. Sheikh Tantawi graciously hosted President Obama last June in Cairo, and we remember well his hospitality. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and those who mourn him on this day.

I was saddened today to learn of the passing of Grand Imam Mohamed Sayyid Tantawi, the head of al-Azhar University in Cairo.

Imam Tantawi was a highly respected cleric and the leader of one of the most important institutions of Islamic learning in the world. As President Obama said in Cairo last summer, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning for over a thousand years, and it continues to play a dynamic role today. Imam Tantawi was an important voice for dialogue among religions and communities. Under his leadership, the university co-hosted the President’s speech laying out a vision for a “New Beginning” between the United States and Muslim communities around the world. And Americans will always remember Imam Tantawi for his condemnations of violence after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when he said: “It's not courage in any way to kill an innocent person.”

We offer our condolences to the Imam’s family and friends today, as well as his many students in Egypt and in Muslim communities throughout the world.

Egyptian officials have laid out an ambitious set of economic targets for the Arab world's most populous country, hoping to recapture the fast growth of the middle of the last decade and to lift living standards.

Egyptian officials are promising 5% gross domestic product growth this year and 6% in 2011, eventually matching the growth of 7% and higher that Egypt enjoyed for three years before the global economic crisis hit in late 2008.

If Cairo is even moderately successful, it could bode well for other countries in the region. Egypt's slower economic overhauls may emerge as a sustainable model for countries in the Middle East, such as Jordan and Syria, that have big populations but little of the region's oil wealth. Dubai and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf, for years the engine for rapid growth and investment in the Mideast, now suffer weakened banks, defaults and falling property markets brought by over-reliance on global credit.

To reach its goals, the Egyptian government plans to actively seek more foreign direct investment by emphasizing the country's comparative resiliency during the economic crisis, to push tax reform by streamlining the complicated income-tax and property-tax codes, and to curb widespread nonpayment of taxes with stricter enforcement. They also aim to reduce the drag created by Egypt's socialist-era subsidy programs.

A new set of property-tax laws just took effect, preceded by months of public-service announcements on radio and television to explain the changes.

A sustained expansion is needed to help put an end to Egypt's persistent economic ills. The inflation rate has slowed only slightly from a peak of 13.3% in November. The budget deficit, weighed down by high food and fuel subsidies, consumes about 8% of gross domestic product. Unemployment stands at an official 8%, but many economists say the figure is much higher and doesn't reflect rampant underemployment.

Ragui Assaad, an Egyptian-born economics professor at the University of Minnesota, estimates that only one in four new university graduates will find substantial jobs.

"Unemployment doesn't measure intermittent work, low productivity work or below-subsistence-level incomes," he says.

Few observers expect an easy path to growth. A recent report by the government's General Authority of Investment describes major structural obstacles to having economic policies benefit the majority of the population. It says that much of the foreign direct investment coming into the country targets the petroleum and financial sectors, which don't create large numbers of jobs. It also highlights policies such as fuel subsidies, which help big businesses keep costs low in factories and help trim car owners' household budgets, but don't help most people.

Economists inside and outside the country have criticized Egypt's education system for failing to provide job skills for a fast-growing youth population.

The government's past successes, however, offer reason for hope.

For several years, a small cadre of economic reformers, working under President Hosni Mubarak and his son, Gamal, pushed to liberalize Egypt's creaking, state-dominated economy. Overhauls focused on reducing bureaucratic red tape for business owners and foreign investors, as well as on privatizing or selling several state-owned banks and industrial companies. The process had its critics, but succeeded in pushing Egypt to growth peaks.

Things came unhinged in 2008, however, as the expansion stoked inflation and triggered unrest in some places, including the so-called bread riots in Cairo and in several rural cities in the Nile Delta.

Foreign direct investment fell to about $8.1 billion in the fiscal year ended June 2009 from a peak of $13.2 billion the previous year, according to the central bank. Suez Canal receipts fell to $4.74 billion for the year from a record high of $5.1 billion, says Suez Canal Authority Chairman Ahmed Ali Fadel. Tourism and remittances from workers overseas also slumped. Critics also complained that too much economic power was concentrated in the hands of an oligarchy with deep ties to the Mubarak family. The following global economic downturn further worsened the economy.

But last month, Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin said Egypt is optimistic again, setting a $10 billion target for FDI this year. Suez receipts rose 6.6% to nearly $390 million in December from the previous month, government data show.

Economists had expected remittances to plunge as Egyptian expats, especially in places like Dubai, lost jobs. But many brought savings home to Egypt, boosting the local economy.

High growth "will put Egypt back on foreign investors' maps," Egyptian Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid was quoted saying in Davos.

Egypt was protected somewhat from outside shock by a largely isolated economy, especially when it comes to the country's conservative banking industry. But modest reforms also played a role. Prof. Assaad applauds the previous privatization efforts and the new campaign to boost tax income and rein in spending, particularly subsidies. Still, he says, "The underlying structural problems in the Egyptian economy remain. The big problem has always been the growth trickling down."

Egypt's foremost Muslim cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, has died, aged 81, while on a trip to Saudi Arabia.

Sheikh Tantawi was the Grand Imam of the al-Azhar mosque and head of the al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's centre of learning and scholarship.

He died of a heart attack in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where he was attending a prize-giving ceremony.

Sheikh Tantawi had infuriated radical Islamists with his moderate views on women wearing the veil.

His body will be taken to the Saudi city of Medina, the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad, for burial, Egyptian authorities said.

An adviser to the Sheikh told Egyptian television Sheikh Tantawi's death was a shock, as before leaving for Saudi Arabia he had seemed in "excellent shape and health".

A member of Sheikh Tantawi's office, Ashraf Hassan, told news agency Reuters that Mohamed Wasel, Sheikh Tantawi's deputy, was expected to temporarily take over leading the institution until the Egyptian president appointed a new head for the body.

Moderate views

Sheikh Tantawi was appointed to his position by Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak in 1996.

But as a government appointee, he was always forced to negotiate a careful path between his religious imperatives and his government position, the BBC's Christian Fraser in Cairo says.

He was vocal in his opposition to female circumcision, which is common in Egypt, calling it "un-Islamic".

Last year, Sheikh Tantawi barred female students at the university from wearing the full-face covering niqab veil.

He also caused upset other Muslim scholars by saying that French Muslims should obey any law that France might enact banning the veil.

His views on the veil prompted Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to accuse him of "harming the interests of Islam".

He has also condemned suicide attacks, saying extremists had hijacked Islamic principles for their own ends.

"I do not subscribe to the idea of a clash among civilizations. People of different beliefs should co-operate and not get into senseless conflicts and animosity," he told a conference in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in 2003.

"Extremism is the enemy of Islam. Whereas, jihad is allowed in Islam to defend one's land, to help the oppressed. The difference between jihad in Islam and extremism is like the earth and the sky," Sheikh Tantawi said.

Egyptian researcher Rashika El Ridi received the UNESCO-L’Oréal Foundation award for Women in Science “for paving the way towards the development of a vaccine against the tropical parasitic disease bilharzia, which affects over 200 million people.”

El Ridi received the award at a ceremony in Paris last week. The annual L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science honors five eminent women scientists, one from each region, for excellence in research.

“The ceremony was amazing, it gave an opportunity to show the world that Egypt, the land of civilization, is progressing,” El Ridi told Daily News Egypt.

“This award is extremely important as it also sheds light on countries such as Egypt, the Philippines and Mexico and shows their contribution to science,” she added.

The annual program aims at recognizing and promoting exceptional women throughout the world for their careers in scientific research, it also works on encouraging vocations in science among young women and supporting the creation of role models for current and future generations.

“A career in science requires energy spent on excellent work and taking excellent care of one’s children and spouse,” says El Ridi. “Dedication and hard work will lead to fulfillment, a secure and respectable position, financial independence, happiness and peace,” explained El Ridi.

The program wants to distinguish exceptional women in science who are helping change the world.

Each recipient is granted $100,000.

“In my eyes the UNESCO-L’Oréal for Women in Science partnership is an innovative alliance capable of making a concrete contribution to the quest of gender inequality,” said UNESCO Secretary General Irina Bokova.

“This partnership promotes not only women. By highlighting the role women must play in scientific research, the program emphasizes the importance of science as a source of progress,” she added.

The award’s recipients are chosen by a jury of leading scientist, it is headed by Nobel Prize winner in Medicine in 1999, Gunter Blobel, and the Founding President of the Awards, Professor Christian de Duve. She also won a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1974.

“The recognition that comes with the UNESCO- L’Oréal Award is important, especially for women in developing countries; clearly it’s much easier to do science if you have wonderful labs and tremendous support,” said Blobel.

The partnership also includes the UNESCO-L’Oréal International Fellowships in which 15 fellowships are granted to young women researchers, three from each of five geo-cultural regions of UNESCO.

L’Oréal subsidiaries around the world also developed the National Fellowship Programs, with the support of the National Commissions for UNESCO.

This year, Ain Shams physics professor Hadeer El Dakhakhani was one of the fellowship’s recipients. She will study at the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of Materials in Strasbourg, France.

“Continuing my research in different countries means a lot to me. It exposes me to different cultures and points of views. I hope I will be able to give something back one day,” she said.

For the UNESCO-L’Oréal Fellowship, young women submit a doctorate or post-doctorate research project to the UNESCO National Commission that they propose to pursue in the life sciences at an institution outside their country of origin. The National Commission nominates the two most deserving candidates from its country to the Selection Committee in Paris, which makes a final choice of fellowship beneficiaries.

The value of the fellowship is up to $40,000 granted to each beneficiary over a two-year period.

This year marks the 12th year of the partnership, which began in 1998 and so far has awarded over 900 women from more than 80 countries.

L’Oréal says it is committed to recognizing the importance of the role of female researchers and their innovations and, to meet this challenge, it developed the For Women in Science partnership with UNESCO.

“This is the most interesting stock market in the region,” Vera Trojan, senior vice president, partner, and equity portfolio manager for Wellington Management Company, said Sunday

“We are impressed with the efforts of the leading companies on the stock exchange, and [their] progress in transparency, disclosure and investor relations efforts,” she added.

Trojan expressed admiration for the “strong economic fundamentals of the country,” speaking at a conference with Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin.

Following meetings with potential investors in Singapore and the annual Euromoney Egypt Investor Conference in Hong Kong, Mohieldin addressed the question “Is Egypt Attractive for Investment?” before the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Cairo.

Representatives from Boston-based wealth management association Russell 20-20 joined the minister to convey how Egypt appears to large institutional investors such as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, also represented.

The chairman of the Russell 20-20 Association and Chairman of Altaira Wealth Management Michael Phillips, explained that his company’s role was to “help our hosts get a better understanding of what’s important to global institutional investors.”

“We are particularly impressed with how the country [Egypt] has evolved after the reforms of 2003 and 2004,” Trojan said, adding that Egyptian companies expanding within the region serve as useful bellwethers for foreign investors.

Meanwhile, Trojan articulated the specifics of Egypt’s précis. Listing Egypt’s solid record of growth, its positive current account balance and positive sources of foreign exchange as assets, she emphasized the large population’s potential both for consumption and building a productive labor force.

She applauded Egypt’s “strong banks” on their potential for consumer lending, before addressing Egypt’s cons: inflation, fiscal deficit, high stock of government debt and risks posed by a high unemployment rate.

Donald Raymond, senior vice president of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) investment board, spoke as an institutional investor. Although his data demonstrated that the largest share of CCP’s investments reside in foreign developed market equities at 22 percent, he said that investing in emerging markets is a growing priority.

Room for reform

Mohieldin acknowledged that many of the reforms that attract investors “would have been difficult to introduce a few years ago.”

He explained that efforts have been made in “fiscal reforms in particular, to generate sustainable funds, to work for reform of taxes implemented to generate required funding for development and growth. [Egypt is] working on…gaining credibility for maintaining the discipline required for the monetary sector.”

He spoke further about Egypt’s strengths, listing the latest inflation figures as “close to single digit” and the core inflation measure as close to the target range of 6 to 8 percent.

He addressed fears that foreign investors exploit emerging markets without offering long-term benefits in return; because Egypt is “not resource rich, investors aren’t after extraction, we have some natural gas and oil, but China and India…are mainly after the capacity of Egypt as a well-diversified economy…to be a gateway to region.”

Disappointments include Egypt’s delayed optimization of its “unique location” by not developing its ports, resulting in transaction costs remaining high.

Mohieldin lauded the financial services industry that “as a sector is growing at 8 to 12 percent, while communications and information technology is growing at 14 percent in real terms.”

“[Egypt has seen] 55 percent recovery last year after the crisis year…it is a liquid and vibrant market in general…[and has seen an] increase in net trading by 1.2 to 1.5 billion every year in the last five years.”

In his only reference to his meetings in Asia, he mentioned, “Many people I met in Hong Kong said, ‘Egypt has been there for 5,000 years. We know the history but were not interested in doing business there because of its sluggish growth in the 80s and early 90s. But with [pre-crisis] growth of 7 percent, we’re now keen to get into the country’.”

He finished by admitting, “Many of the measures are not pleasant; reforms mean bearing the pain of gains enjoyed today and in the future.”

The minister and panel responded to questions, first fielding an inquiry on whether the People’s Assembly had successfully halted the privatization process.

Mohieldin said, “We’re working on a draft law introduce to parliament to rely on the stock exchange for flotation of publicly owned companies.”

The panel was asked to give their opinions of rating companies, following the crisis and the on-going challenges in Dubai and Greece.

Phillips of Russell 20-20 answered, “Rating agencies… have a lot to answer for. I do not put the same credence to them as before the crisis.”

Vera suggested that ratings serve as a “report card,” where “you get a good grade for good performance.” In her opinion they “still have an important role to play… serve as an incentive for improving performance. The problem is not the idea, but with the rigor of the analysis.”

In response to a question about the determination of American regulators to oversee investment banks to avoid another global financial meltdown, Phillips explained the intention to “move to a new regulatory structure [of] activity-based regulation, not entity-based. Instead of bank regulators and investment bank regulators, you’d have some looking at credit, debt or derivatives, across entity barriers.”

Mohieldin expounded on the subject from an Egyptian perspective, saying “the issue of regulation is sensitive, because whatever is being said by leading countries impacts emerging markets. [We are] very much concerned… need effective regulation… [to] not micro-manage and prevent growth and mobilization of savings.

“[We] need to listen to the market and lawmakers at the same time, then develop an accurate framework of regulation that is not subject to the reaction of the general public.”

The decision to feature only Canadian and American representatives on a panel of this nature, only days after his return from Asia, seemed perhaps intended to reassure Egypt’s traditional investors in North America and Europe that Egypt has not completely given up on their slow rate of recovery in favor of Asian money.

However, the lack of dialogue on the changing landscape of foreign investors seemed pointedly west-biased, although the market itself has shifted decidedly eastward.

As part of President Clinton’s effort to promote peace in the Middle East, he brokered an important trade agreement with Egypt that many believe saved the Egyptian textile industry. The deal established Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ), and Haiti now wants its own version of the successful U.S. – Egyptian partnership.

QIZ, which has helped foster Egypt’s textile and readymade garment industries, allows Egypt to export items to the United States duty-free, provided that part of the product includes an Israeli item. The intended result is cooperation between Israel and Arab states and growing industries in Egypt.

Haiti, which doesn’t have a developed export apparel industry, is seeking a similar agreement with the United States, as part of its effort to rebuild after the historic earthquake in January.

To hear the original broadcast, please click here.

In his lecture at the Academy’s Chauvenet 100 Hall, Ambassador Shoukry reiterated Egypt’s commitment to further strengthening its strategic partnership with the US, adding that Egypt brings unique strengths to this partnership with its large valuable human resources, its diverse well-known political and cultural impact on the Middle East, as well as its geo-strategic location and control of the most important waterways in the world. Ambassador Shoukry said that the chances of increasing areas of cooperation and understanding between the two countries were extremely high given the Obama Administration’s efforts to deal with global issues on the basis of dialogue, cooperation and mutual respect.

Ambassador Shoukry highlighted the military-to-military aspects of the Egypt-US relationship, stressing that bilateral military cooperation is strong and diverse. “Being a key partner to the US in the Middle East, Egypt is capable of promoting effectively the shared goals of peace and stability, not only in the immediate region but also in Southwest Asia, the horn of Africa and beyond.” Shoukry concluded that it was therefore natural that Egypt maintain a strong military force to carry out regional responsibilities and assist in defending shared interests.”

The Egyptian Ambassador expressed Egypt’s appreciation for the US military assistance it receives. He stressed that this assistance contributes to the pursuit of a suitable and modernized Egyptian military and bolsters Egypt’s ability to modernize its armed forces, thereby continuing to serve the ultimate goals of peace and stability.

Turning to regional issues, Ambassador Shoukry reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to achieving comprehensive peace in the Middle East. “We have consistently upheld our peace accord with Israel, and we are re-doubling our efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for all peoples of the Middle East,” he added. The Ambassador clarified that what Egypt is advocating, through its talks with all the relevant parties, is the need to demonstrate a political will committed to achieving peace, rather than aimless tactical maneuvering that prolongs the suffering of both peoples and forces Palestinians to continue to live under occupation. In Egypt’s view, “the human suffering in Gaza is enormous and unacceptable.”

On the Iranian nuclear issue, the Egyptian Ambassador said that while Egypt supports the international community’s efforts to fully verify the nature of Iran’s nuclear ventures, the question of Israel’s nuclear capabilities and its continuing rejection to accede to the NPT comes to light and needs to be properly addressed. “One standard must apply to all. Israel must adhere fully to the NPT, Iran must cooperate fully with the IAEA; hence a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East becomes a reality.”

Ambassador Shoukry ended his speech by repeating that the US and Egypt are an asset to each other, adding “we will exert our utmost not only to safeguard it, but to lift it to elevated levels for the sake of our nations and peoples.”

The Egyptian Ambassador, who was accompanied by the Egyptian military attaché and Embassy staff, met with the Academy’s Superintendent Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler and political science professors at the Academy. All parties expressed a genuine interest in strengthening relations between the Egyptian and US Naval Academies. Ambassador Shoukry invited Vice Admiral Fowler to visit Egypt to explore means of enhancing this cooperation in the near future.

Address by H.E. Sameh Shoukry, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt at the U.S. Naval Academy
"Egypt - U.S. Relations and Recent Developments in the Middel East"
March 4, 2010

Good evening,

It is my distinct pleasure to be here today among the officers, servicemen and cadets of the United States Navy. Naval forces are traditionally at the front lines in defense of national security, in countering any impending threats and pursuing global security. This is definitely amplified in the case of a global actor like the United States with its most impressive naval capability, not only in terms of hardware but certainly also in the quality, training and commitment that all personnel of the Navy continue to demonstrate.

The young cadets here today are surely the seeds of future American pride, and an addition to the long history of U.S. dedication to realizing global peace and security. I salute you all; and I would like to thank in particular Professor Brannon Wheeler for organizing this wonderful visit.

Let me start by stressing that we are committed to our two countries’ strategic partnership. We have consistently worked on sustaining Egyptian-American relations and remain adamant in our efforts aimed at strengthening it even further. The shared conviction of the central role this relationship plays in our continuing efforts to stabilize the Middle East region has been the main engine behind increased cooperation.

Egypt brings unique strengths to this partnership, with its large valuable human resources, along with its diverse well known political and cultural impact on the Middle East. It’s geo-strategic location and control of one of the most important waterways in the world is also another testament to its value added contribution. In short, the role we continue to assume in the task of addressing tensions and promoting peace indeed provides the U.S. a strong proponent to advance common policies and objectives in the region.

This long-standing relationship has undoubtedly over the years witnessed times of converging views and approaches as regards the necessary means to achieve our common objectives. It also, at other times, had to deal with discrepancies in view or approaches. It is to the benefit of both our countries to have been able to deal with such situations on the basis of mutual respect and a common commitment to the strategic nature of our partnership, and its equally beneficial nature. It is this resilience and depth of our relations that guarantees that we will remain steadfast in our efforts to continue to develop and strengthen the bonds between us.

As the current administration strives to deal with global issues on the basis of dialogue, cooperation and mutual respect, we are greatly optimistic of increasing areas of understanding. In fact, clear indications of an improved bilateral relationship have been evident, with numerous diplomatic exchanges. President’s Obama’s visit to Cairo in June 2009 was a key milestone, along with President Mubarak’s trip to Washington last August, a first in over five years. More recently, the two governments held their annual strategic dialogue.

The choice of Cairo by President Obama to deliver his historic speech to the Arab and Muslim world is highly appreciated. It is a further demonstration of the special relationship that exists between us; as well as a recognition of Egypt’s unique political, economic, social and cultural role in the regional context and beyond. The speech brought enormous hope to the region, and granted a long-awaited desire for a restoration of the historical and deep ties between the two societies. It was also a message that reached out to all arenas of conflict with dialogue and reconciliation from a perspective of moral strength.

We view American interests in the Middle East and beyond as not being limited to the pursuit of securing global energy needs, combating radicalism that may impact the American homeland, or mere economic interests. But, as reflected in President Obama’s Cairo speech, these interests are well grounded in a genuine refocusing of efforts towards a more collaborative world order based on the rule of law and justice. Such policies and objectives are wholeheartedly supported by us.

There is indeed an abundance of common incentives for our two countries to double cooperation and strengthen dialogue in the future. Together, we will both remain engaged in developing relations with a focused eye on safeguarding the long term interests of the region.

I must stress that an essential element in this relationship is the military-to-military cooperation which I would like to briefly address.

As we both face many of the same challenges, it is imperative that cooperation between a world leader and the region’s largest state will contribute in attaining our shared objectives. Being a key partner to the U.S. in the Middle East, Egypt is capable of promoting effectively the shared goals of peace and stability, not only in the immediate region but also in Southwest Asia, the horn of Africa and beyond. It is therefore natural that Egypt should maintain a strong military force to carry out regional responsibilities and assist in defending shared interests.

In that context, U.S. military assistance is highly appreciated, something that contributes to pursuing a suitable, modernized and balanced military. It, in turn, boosts our effectiveness in continuing to serve the ultimate goals of peace and stability. And speaking of modernizing Egyptian forces, it is worthy to note that we are already more than half-way through the modernization plan, continuing to integrate U.S. military equipment as aging weapons are retired. This is a recognized priority so as to increase the synergy between our armed forces there by providing greater effectiveness in fields of cooperation.

Furthermore, an integral part of our military cooperation is training. In preparing our military personnel to operate and maintain U.S. systems, Egypt has sent officers to train at U.S. military institutions. This is definitely key to the professional development of the Egyptian military. In addition, it has created strong ties of personal friendships and mutual understanding of our respective cultures and the commonalities that exist in our value systems.

In addition to that, periodic joint training exercises that have continued for years have enhanced the interoperability and coordination between Egyptian and American armed forces. In that regard, the successive multinational “Bright Star” exercises are very beneficial to all participants as well as the US CENTCOM; as all parties train and learn to operate under challenging circumstances.

Another subset of this military cooperation is the security dimension, with continued intelligence cooperation and a coordinated approach to combating the threat of extremism in the Middle East.

Furthermore, the United States is provided access to vital air and sea routes through Egypt. For example, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, Egypt expedited about 1300 U.S. Naval transits through the Suez Canal, and provided security support for the U.S. ships passing. This, in addition to providing over flight permission to approximately 45,000 military aircrafts.

Indeed, Egypt’s importance is further accentuated as it has a coastline that extends on the Mediterranean and Red seas for almost 4,000 kilometers and controls a strategic waterway, namely the Suez Canal, being of crucial importance to international trade movement as well as strategic sea lifts.

Furthermore, on another field of cooperation to promote mutual security, Egypt and the U.S. are active participants in international peacekeeping operations. Egypt has contributed to peacekeeping operations throughout the world, including Sudan, Mozambique, Angola, Liberia, Rwanda and East Timor; in addition to deploying peacekeeping forces to Somalia and Bosnia to support UN troops and NATO forces.

I must also mention that with regard to Sudan, Egypt is the largest contributor to peacekeeping forces in the UN African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) as it participates with over 2300 peace keepers in two mechanized infantry battalions, a transportation company, a military engineers company and one signal company.

Military partnership is only one main dimension of our cooperation that revolves around a mutual interest in guaranteeing development and prosperity for the Egyptian population, while ensuring the U.S. an effective partner striving to achieve our common objectives. We are certain that continuing to promote U.S.-Egyptian relations in all its avenues of cooperation will contribute positively to Egypt’s efforts towards political, economic and social development.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to turn now to provide you with more insight on developments in Egypt. I believe it’s important in a relationship of the magnitude that exists between us that both sides are well aware of achievements, challenges and aspirations that motivate their respective societies. Greater mutual awareness of our distinct circumstances will necessarily contribute to greater levels of understanding, and our ability to define more accurately areas of cooperation.

Egypt has been through tremendous political, economic and social turbulences and volatility during the second half of the last century. Despite having taken both courageous decisions of going to war and making peace to regain our sovereignty over every inch of our land, we have adopted a consistent course so as to provide the Egyptian people the prosperity and advancement they rightly deserve. Indeed, the government has, for more than twenty years now, been applying an ambitious reform program in all fields of life.

We are committed to political pluralism, democratization, freedom of expression, and promoting and protecting human rights. There are currently two dozen political parties in Egypt; and though most have not yet impacted the public, one must note that one-fourth of the Egyptian Parliament is comprised of independent and opposition representatives contributing to a healthy debate and oversight of government policies.

Egypt recognizes the value of the application of the principle of freedom of expression and its positive impact on societal development. It has, therefore, striven to reinforce its position as a major player in the region when it comes to the media with a Press that’s one of the most influential and widely-read.

Over half of Egypt’s 500 newspapers, journals and magazines are privately owned. It is also worthy to note that, unlike some other countries in the region, Egypt does not apply media censorship; hence promoting a wider space for freedom of expression. Egyptian satellite channels reaching out locally as well as to the region and beyond also attest to embracing the value of projecting divergent views in the process of developing national consensus. More than 162,000 of Egyptian citizens are bloggers, comprising 30% of the Arab world’s blogger community. And, the number of Egyptians with access to the internet has been growing at a remarkable pace.

There is also a rising recognition of the importance of promoting and protecting human rights from a governmental and non-governmental perspective. Legislation has been enacted in support of this objective. Enhancing national capacity building is key, raising greater public awareness and enforcing accountability. It is also noteworthy to mention the creation of the National Human Rights Council, headed by the former UN Secretary General Dr. Boutros Ghali, as one non-governmental watchdog, among many others, in the field of human rights that has had a definite impact on policy and public awareness.

Similarly, our commitment to empowering women in all walks of life is clear and have made leaps from the beginning of the 20th century. We are also committed to supporting civil society organizations as important tools for promoting the development of our people.

Having said that, it is important to understand that while political and social reform in Egypt is an ongoing process, it is our belief that dealing with such challenges must be derived from within, from the desire to reform and improve. Such actions are based on each country’s priorities and the value structure defined by each nation’s particular cultural and historical experiences.

Egypt has also developed ambitious economic agendas. U.S. assistance in this area is a source of appreciation having had a very direct impact in improving our economic potential. Continued interest in the promotion of foreign direct investment will provide for the crucially needed economic development, especially in light of the rising challenges to alleviate poverty, cope with a rapidly growing population and compete globally. The socio-economic well-being of our society can be greatly elevated through investing in education, technology and know-how transfer that would upgrade the platform of our human resources. This will ultimately prepare our nations’ youth for the future, helping them to integrate into, rather than be isolated from, a globalized world.

In all these areas, the U.S. has been a valuable partner supporting our capacity-building efforts.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Moving on to the regional situation, one must note that the dynamic relationship between Egypt and the United States is surely not divorced from the regional setting that constitutes an important component in the challenges we both face. So, a demonstration of how our bilateral partnership feeds into the accomplishment of shared regional objectives is warranted.

Egypt is steadfast in its commitment towards peace. It has continued to advocate the benefits that are derived from peace and also prove by example that cooperation and coexistence are the preferred course serving the peoples of the region. We have consistently upheld our peace accord with Israel, and we are re-doubling our efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for all peoples of the Middle East.

The first issue that starkly confronts us in any analysis of the regional strife is undoubtedly its central core conflict: the Palestinian question. This unresolved issue has been festering for decades, deteriorating to greater and more dangerous magnitudes, adversely influencing other open conflicts in the region today. Whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, the situation in Lebanon or Iran, along with the challenges posed by extremism, the numerous crises in the Middle East are related to the Palestinian quest for justice and peace.

One may wonder how this one issue can be of such impact, yet the undeniable reality is that this conflict shapes the perception of Arabs and Muslims towards the West, and the U.S in particular. Without extracting a comprehensive just peace, this conflict will continue to serve the interests of those who seek to incite many around the region and the globe.

To that end, Egypt remains committed to pursuing a final lasting viable peace for both the Palestinians and the Israelis. The framework of such peace leading to a Palestinian state is not new, as the general structure of the solution is well known to the parties. Following many years of peace talks and negotiations, the main outline of a final settlement revolves around the following: that the border of the Palestinian state will be the June 1967 line, with minor land swaps agreed between both sides. Certain arrangements will have to be made on the Palestinian side to accommodate Israel’s security concerns and provide the security guarantees needed. Jerusalem will be the capital of both states; and finally there has to be a just settlement to the plight of the Palestinian refugees.

We are committed to the two-state solution as the political horizon of peace negotiations. The international community, including the U.S., fully supports this as the only credible means to bringing about peace and justice to the region. Nevertheless, the window of opportunity to fulfill this aspiration is continuing to close. The consequences will certainly adversely affect both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, in addition to the states of the region and beyond.

Continued Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories along with the separation wall, with its consumption of vast Palestinian land, erodes the very essence of the two-state solution.

What Egypt is advocating, through its talks with all the relevant parties, is the need to demonstrate a political will committed to achieving peace rather than aimless tactical maneuvering that prolongs the suffering of both people and forces Palestinians to continue to live under occupation.

We are well aware of the intricate and complicated nature of the political situation as relates to the pursuit of peace. This can only be overcome by the mutual recognition of both parties – Israelis and Palestinians – that the courageous compromises and flexibilities necessary to make peace contribute equally in providing a brighter future for generations to come.

And, though we believe that the political resolution of the conflict should be achieved today before tomorrow, we recognize that further efforts must continue by Egypt, the U.S. and the international community to assist the parties. Yet, at the same time, the tragic humanitarian conditions faced by the Palestinian population under occupation must be immediately addressed.

Conditions in the West bank are still bleak, despite recent relative improvement, which is limited in view of the low base of comparison. The human suffering in Gaza is enormous and unacceptable.

We remain cognizant of the far-reaching effects of this conflict, and continue to place it at the forefront of our dialogue with the US, which we look to its leadership and ability to assist the parties in undertaking the necessary courageous steps to achieve the needed peace.

As to the other regional hurdles, it is our belief that these are a reflection of a wider conflict among a number of regional and international actors and their conflicting interests. An open dialogue and cooperation in defining a course of action with this Administration continues on all these issues:

In Iraq, territorial integrity and stability is key. On our part, we are pursuing momentum in Egyptian-Iraqi bilateral relations. And, as the U.S. continues to complete its withdrawal plan, it is vital that every effort is exerted to avoid any deterioration of security in Iraq. The prime challenge is to deflect any political vacuum, rising sectarian strife and disintegration; all of which would have direct adverse consequences on the overall stability of the region and beyond.

Also, in Afghanistan, Egypt is closely engaged with the US and many other international partners to assist in alleviating the dire economic and social conditions there, and in confronting the roots of extremism.

Along with the challenge of the Iranian nuclear issue, the efforts by Tehran to expand its influence over the region is of great concern to us. Let me make this clear: while supporting the international community’s efforts to verify fully the nature of Iran’s nuclear ventures, the question of Israel’s nuclear capabilities and its continuing rejection to accede to the NPT comes to light and needs to be properly addressed, for one standard must apply to all. Israel must adhere fully to the NPT, Iran must cooperate fully with the IAEA; hence a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East becomes a reality.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

To conclude, I would like to say that our aim, through cooperating with the United States, is to create a peaceful regional and international environment focusing on achieving stability and the prosperity of the people. We will continue to work to create a platform of mutual cooperation that involves Egypt and like-minded countries of the region, in order to confront all challenges.

The pivotal role that Egypt assumes as a regional leader grants the U.S. an effective partner able to deliver; one that would move forward with it. Through embarking on all avenues of cooperation, I am confident that the true potential of the Middle East will be realized, especially that we see many positive elements which can be harnessed towards creating what the region deserves.

Each — the U.S. and Egypt — is an asset to the other. We are proud of this relationship, and will exert our utmost not only to safeguard it, but to lift it to elevated levels for the sake of our nations and peoples.

Thank you…

Of the many she assumed over the past four decades, the last one the general public would expect the former first lady to take up is that of an artist.

Already a published writer and established teacher, Jehan Sadat is about to inaugurate her first exhibition, titled “Landscapes of the Heart 1986-2009,” at the Margo Veillon Gallery at AUC’s Tahrir campus this Sunday, March 7.

The nature of the event automatically raises a number of questions, the most obvious being: Why painting? There’s an element of curiosity that the artworks of a woman so heavily involved in society and politics incite: What would they portray and how would they be perceived. All of these queries were eloquently tackled and answered by the former first lady herself in an interview with Daily News Egypt last Tuesday.

When I asked her about her personal artistic history, Sadat laughed, stating that her first painting was made long before I was born.

“I painted for the first time about 55 years ago. I had just gotten married and without children or much else to do, I had an Italian art teacher give my sister and I painting classes. I was always interested in painting so I gave it a try,” Sadat said.

However, with responsibilities of being a mother and the first lady of a country in turmoil, the luxury of having free time to paint was soon over. Sadat was to go through some of the most difficult episodes of her lifetime, both as an Egyptian citizen as well as a wife and mother of four.

With the consequent assassination of president Anwar Sadat and his country and family’s strife to move forward, Mrs Sadat was determined not to stay idle.

“I hate not having anything to do; I always need to be busy. At first, I was always busy with my home and children. But as they grew and had their own children, I started to teach, write; make myself busy.”

It was 10 years ago when Mrs Sadat found herself facing a long weekend during a semester of teaching at the University of South Carolina in the US without much to do.

“I had five whole days of no teaching, no going to campus or seeing students. So I went out to an art supply store and bought paint and canvas.” Since then, she has been painting regularly whenever she has the time.

Her artwork is not what you’d expect from such a political icon. The paintings are calm, innocent and untainted landscapes; some depict Egyptian sceneries, others from the US. They’re surprisingly uncomplicated; with neat and controlled brushstrokes that closely mimic Sadat’s tranquil mannerisms. The words that best describe the paintings are sensible and temperate.

“I’m generally a calm person,” explains Sadat, “I deal with things in a matter of fact [way] and that includes my paintings. I paint what I miss: In the US I long for Egypt so I paint her landscapes, and while I’m in Egypt I miss the views I saw in the US so I paint those. It’s really very simple.”

It is that simplicity that catches the viewer off-guard. It becomes apparent that these paintings are the personal and intimate self-expressions of Jehan Safwat Raouf, a woman who has a myriad of titles and stigmas attached to her but who is ultimately a woman with an interest in art she desired to express.

The intriguing element about the work is that it negates expectations of what it would look like; it is an exact mirror of Jehan Sadat the woman, not the icon. The colors are childlike in their optimism, both bright and clear. No muddied waters appear in these landscapes, not even those of our muddied Nile.

“I’m a morning person,” she states with a sure smile, “I like to face the day, and I’m optimistic. I always felt that there’s something to look forward to no matter what one goes through. Perhaps that affects my choice of color.”

The most refreshing aspect of the paintings is how frank the former first lady seems to be of their conception. She refuses to add any deeper or complex attributes to her productions; asserting that they are simply personal self-expressions of nostalgia. She speaks of her decision to exhibit her work with the transparency of a fleeting thought.

“I showed my paintings to my neighbors and friends in the US and they liked them very much and were terribly excited. They said I should hold an exhibit to show my work. I thought it was a great idea, but I had to do it in Egypt first.”

On Egypt’s approach to the arts, Jehan Sadat is once again optimistic. “There are endless amounts of talented artists in our country, and many are still in the making. I believe that we have a lot of potential in getting ourselves international acclaim because we have the skill and creativity to do so.”

She proposes more gallery spaces for artists, and the inclusion of these gallery spaces in guided tours of Cairo and Egypt in general. “Just as we show the ancient Egyptian art, we should also show modern Egyptian art. It’s very important to people around the world to know about our talents today.”

She may not know it, but Jehan Sadat’s first artistic efforts might as well bring that objective into fruition: “Landscapes of the Heart’s” next display will naturally be in the US. However, and while it’s still in Cairo, it would be a shame not to go and view a side rarely revealed of the woman and icon whose public life and image has concealed so much of her own personal and intimate expression.

“Landscapes of the Heart 1986-2009” opens on Sunday, March 7, at the American University in Cairo’s Margo Veillon Gallery of Modern Egyptian Art, Downtown. The gallery is open daily from 4-8 pm.

Loula Zaklama, a highly sought after advertising pioneer, Neveen El Tahri, chairperson and managing director of Delta Holding for Financial Investments, Sisters Hind and Nadia Wassef and Nihal Schawky, founding partners of successful bookstore chain Diwan, are five of the most prominent entrepreneurial women in Egypt. In an interview with Business Today, they reflect on their success and discuss why more women haven’t reached the upper echelons of the corporate world.

“It was very, very hard but it never occurred to me that I was going to be able to work or succeed,” says Zaklama. Five decades after she got started in advertising, Zaklama is still an outlier. Only 15% of private sector workers are female. Women make up just one in five small-or medium-sized business owners; in Western countries, the ratio is close to half. In Egypt, women need not look far to be reminded of their traditional roles. In the business community, the gender contrasts are emphasized even further.

El Safar explains that the stigma facing women manifests itself in unexpected ways. She cites difficulties getting loans for business start-ups as a prime example. Pressure on ambitious women is different than on their male counterparts, she says, and there are psychological barriers that need to be overcome along with more tangible obstacles. The gravity associated with requesting large loans often leads women to ask for less than their male colleagues might, she says.

But these entrepreneurial women do not seem phased by the things that set them apart from the men; in fact, they see them as an advantage. El Tahri believes that such differences are what make women more dedicated and eager to prove themselves. “I think it is part of our DNA and how we were brought up,” she says, explaining that from childhood girls are accustomed to gender disparities and that instills in them a drive to prove their capacity for success.

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For Muslims, peaceful coexistence is an obligation rather than a matter of choice. Prophet Muhammad was not only encouraged to engage the followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity — the three monotheistic religions - in meaningful dialogue; he was commanded to do so.

This week in Washington, leaders of different Muslim and Christian faiths came together to discuss reconciliation between Islam and the Christian West at the Christian-Muslim Summit. I was honored to be a part of this dialogue and to join a myriad voices, from eminent religious leaders to the general public, to discuss ways to work together to promote peace efforts worldwide.

The 2007 open letter signed by 138 Muslim leaders, "A Common Word," has paved the way towards better understanding of religious diversity amongst Muslims. It opens with a line that best summarizes the Islamic position on interfaith dialogue: "Call unto the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and contend with them in the fairest way." (Ayah 125 of Surat Al-Nahl).

The Qur'anic command is also very clear on this topic: "Say: O People of the Book: Come to an agreement between us and you, that we worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partners to Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God. And if they decline (your invitation for dialogue), then say: Bear witness that we shall (continue to) submit to God in Islam" (Al-Imran: 64). According to the Qur'an, interfaith dialogue should be proactively initiated by Muslims.

There are two important tenets to emphasize about the Islamic viewpoint on interfaith dialogue:

• The purpose of interfaith dialogue is not to necessarily conclude with a winner and a loser or to convert others, but rather to share one's principles. Sincere dialogue should strengthen a person's faith and at the same time break down barriers.

• Dialogue must not be confined to academic and intellectual circles. Its purpose is to demystify religious differences to everyday people and to uncover the words of truth that frequently get buried under human biases and tendencies to follow that which is convenient. Dialogue can only lead people to examine their religious identities more deeply.

With regard to interfaith dialogue and understanding taking place on an institutional level, al-Azhar University, the oldest, most respected and influential Sunni institution of higher education in the world, has long been active in reaching out to other religious communities, both within the Islamic world and on the international stage. This spirit of dialogue is evident in the fatwas, or rulings, of Al-Azhar Sheikhs, as well as in the activities of its scholars.

For example, in 1959, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mahmud Shaltut issued a fatwa proclaiming that the school of thought followed by Shiite Muslims is acceptable to Sunnis, bringing about a new era of dialogue and cooperation between the sects. Pope John Paul II visited Al-Azhar in 2000 after which a Muslim Catholic commission for dialogue that continues to meet regularly was founded.

More recently, in 2007, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, the head of Dar al-Ifta, one of the world's leading centers of Islamic authority, was a primary signatory of the "A Common Word" initiative which called for dialogue between Muslims and Christians based on the principles of love of God and love of neighbor. In a series of conferences based on this initiative, the Grand Mufti and other Muslim scholars from around the world have met with Christian leaders in the U.S, the UK, and with the Pope at the Vatican, where they discussed the importance of interfaith dialogue based on authentic scholarship and brotherly love.

Moreover, Al-Azhar University does not limit its involvement on the issue of interfaith dialogue to members of different faiths, but engages those within the Muslim community itself. Last year, Al-Azhar University devoted its annual international alumni conference to the theme of interfaith dialogue. The conference, which brought together former students from Egypt and around the Muslim World, explored the sources of inter-communal tension around the globe and stressed the importance of awareness of the common values shared by all the great faiths of the world.

It is not religion that is the root cause of world problems, as some people may want to assert, but rather the misunderstanding of religion that ends up plaguing the world. Interfaith dialogue can certainly serve to bring about a higher level of understanding of different religions on a global level, which will also hopefully lead to more tolerance, acceptance of others, and appreciation for all humanity.

Dr. Ahmad Mohamed El Tayeb is president of Cairo's Al-Azhar University and served as one of the principals in the Christian-Muslim Summit in Washington on March 1-3, 2010.

Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo have agreed to support a U.S. proposal for indirect peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters Wednesday that members of the Arab League will back the talks for a period of four months.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is attending the Cairo meeting, has said he would abide by the Arab League's decision.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also welcomed the decision.

The announcement follows a U.S. offer to mediate discussions between the two sides in an effort to revive the stalled peace process.

On Tuesday, a U.S. State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, said Washington believes Israel and the Palestinians are "getting closer" to starting a dialogue.

Talks broke down over a year ago. One of the biggest disputes is Israel's continued settlement activity in territory that Palestinians claim for a future state.

Egypt is well placed to help countries across Africa that struggle to feed their people, since it is rich in food supplies.

Poverty and food scarcity are crucial problems facing African nations, which is why leaders of the African Union met recently and approved a joint plan of action to enhance food security.

Only 4 percent of arable land in Africa and the Arab world is irrigated, leaving many countries to rely on rainfall for water. By comparison, Egypt has one of the oldest irrigation systems in the world and its vast experience has been sought out to help its African neighbors.

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The Prime Minister called on the members of the chamber to highlight the strength of the Egyptian economy and its success in withstanding the effects of the global financial crisis. He said the Egyptian economy had achieved a growth rate of 5 per cent, in spite of the crisis.

Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Magdy Radi said the assignment of the door- knocking mission comes within the framework of efforts by the American Chambers of Commerce to interact with the US market.

He said the meeting addressed a number of important issues, such as the state of the Egyptian economy and the global economic crisis impact.

Radi said the Prime Minister asked the members of the chamber to convey to the US side a number of messages: that the Egyptian economy had overcome the global financial crisis, and that investors were confident in the Egyptian economic performance. The Prime Minister told the members of the chamber that the Egyptian government was keen to bring about a qualitative development of relations between Egypt and the US administration.

Speaking at her alma mater, the American University in Cairo (AUC), Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan called for reigniting the spark of civic engagement, calling it an “indispensible part” of social progress in the region.

“Social progress doesn’t come from governments looking down, directing change. It comes from communities, families and individuals looking up, driving society forward themselves, fuelled by nothing more than an idea or instinct to do good … It comes from civic engagement,” were the strong words her majesty began with as she addressed students, alumni and educators.

She noted that students need to recognize the importance of civic engagement, a principal that is rooted in our culture.

“We need to accept responsibility to our society and become part of the social web, as citizenship is the sense of duty and pride and doing social good,” she said, adding that that lately citizenship has been spelt with a ‘s’ for “sit back and sit still.”

“A man demonstrates his true worthiness when he participates in community,” Queen Rania pointed out.

She referred to two role models for civic engagement within the Arab World. The first is AUC alumnus, Raghda El Ebrahsi, who founded Alashanek Ya Baladi, which started off as a community service club at AUC in 2002 and after graduation she turned it into an active NGO that caters to the society as a whole, regardless of financial class.

“For me the story is symbolic to the spark needed to ignite civic engagement … there is more to life than just possessions …the true value [of life] lies in people,” said Queen Rania.

The second is Sweilem Rihani, who, at the age of 15, was diagnosed with cancer. But instead of giving in to the illness, he defeated it and volunteered his time and effort to help other cancer patients.

“Raghda and Sweilam saw no ceilings and they made a difference … we need more of them,” she said, adding that the region is drowning in problems so we need to “look up to the open sky for possibilities.”

Queen Rania told the hundreds of students in the audience that they are the force that will decide the future of the region.

“No one can change everything but each one can do something, you can be the spark that sets the chain of motion…and together be a generation that looks up, reaches out and lifts our region,” she said.

In addition, students will also learn from these experiences in a way that would help them in their careers, she explained. “You learn team work, leadership, communication, problem solving, adaptability and open mindedness.”

Questions from the student body were brought forward by Student Union President Omar Kandil, who first asked about the ways to motivate students to participate in civic engagement.

“Improve the quality of teachers as they shape the next generation,” replied Queen Rania. “They also need to take the students out of the classrooms and onto the streets, teaching them what’s relevant to what is going on outside,” she added.

Citizens, she explained, can’t wait for governments to make the change.

“There needs to be more activism and less passiveness in our society. We need to realize that civic engagement is a path to development and a symptom of it.”

She also spoke of Islam and how outside the region it has been associated with aggression, violence and oppression of women and within the region became associated with political play.

“We have become preoccupied with just the technical aspects of the religion [leaving] the spiritual side and the actual values of our religion,” she said, adding that “Civic engagement is a central part of our religion.”

She noted that, “Civic engagement alone cannot elevate the country’s standard but it is an indispensible part.”

Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Barra calculates global stock market ratings for every country in its All Country World Index (ACWI), and includes Egypt in MSCI’s Emerging Market (EM) Index. The MSCI EM Index is a free-float weighted equity index; its 0.9 percent rise on Friday compared to only 0.4 percent increase seen by the MSCI World Index of securities from 23 developed countries.

Egypt’s upgrade follows a streak of optimism for emerging markets, although Michael Ganske, head of emerging-market research at Commerzbank AG in London, advised caution.

“Emerging markets are a strong, structural story… [But] today’s movement is a reaction to the market being quite depressed over the past couple of days. We are facing a period of higher volatility rather than a long-term, sustained rally,” Bloomberg quoted Ganske.

“There could be further to go in terms of a reversal in sentiment toward emerging markets,” said analysts Shanthi Nair and Rishav Dev at Nomura International Plc. “Valuations for emerging markets have still not moved into attractive territory,” stated the London-based analysts, according to Bloomberg, which added that “valuations in emerging markets remain expensive.”

Alarm that global recovery in 2010 remains slow has contributed to volatile markets worldwide. However, expectations for Egypt in 2010 remain robust.

Reham El Desoki, chief economist at investment bank Beltone Financial, commented on MSCI’s bullishness on Egypt. She told Daily News Egypt, “Most international organizations have been reporting positively on Egypt’s economy and its financial market, with the better than expected growth and the better financial performance compared to other emerging markets. We believe this could serve to attract more investors to Egypt in the short term, especially as organizations like the IMF and ratings agencies release positive views on Egypt.”

MSCI’s upgraded rating of Egyptian stock follows similar confidence expressed by Credit Suisse, which had upgraded its Egypt rating to “overweight” in September. In a report released at the time, Credit Suisse credited Egypt’s “attractive static and historic valuation levels relative to other emerging markets; third highest GDP growth rate for 2009 among emerging markets; expectations for the continuation of an expansionary money cycle.”

Credit Suisse’s preferred stock picks were Orascom Telecom, Orascom Construction, Telecom Egypt and EFG Hermes. In February Credit Suisse’s EMEA strategist Alex Redman maintained his ‘overweight’ stance.

Credit Suisse also cited Moody’s positive assessment of Egypt’s investment outlook. Although rising inflation in 2008 had caused the investor’s service to lower Egypt to a “negative” rating, as early as August 2009, Moody’s had upgraded Egypt to “stable.”

Although rampant inflation has been assuaged, according to Tristan Cooper, Moody’s Head Analyst for Middle East Sovereigns, inflationary pressure remains a concern. "This, combined with slower growth and rising unemployment, continues to present challenges in light of the country's poor social indicators," he explained following the release of Moody’s improved rating.

Moody’s listed the government’s ability to contain its deficit despite stimulus measures as a motivating factor for confidence in Egypt. Furthermore, Egypt was able to come through the global economic crisis due to a “moderate level of economic openness, a solid external position a well-diversified economy, and stable banking system with limited foreign exposure.”

However, on-going deficits and public debt burdens, credit concerns, and weak public finances are among the anxieties that prevent Moody’s from appearing as bullish on Egypt as some other rating agencies.

A note released Feb. 25 by investment bank EFG Hermes reported, “Having been the best stock market performer globally (up 12 percent) in the first seven weeks of 2010 … the market has fallen over the past week.” This recent downslide was attributable to local factors, “rising valuations, lower local cash positions, and worsening retail investor sentiment.”

The note explained that foreign investors bought heavily in early 2010, and therefore EFG Hermes anticipated short-term weakness while profits are taken.

Regarding the lack of retail investors, EFG Hermes gave two reasons: “ongoing and pending rights issues have reduced retail investors’ available cash positions … and retail investor sentiment has soured due to regulatory investigations into a number of local brokerages and small-cap stocks.”

EFG Hermes corroborated optimism in Telecom Egypt and Orascom Telecom, though admitted to possible high volatility especially for Orascom Telecom, which is still embroiled in an ownership dispute with France Telecom over mobile subscriber Mobinil. EFG Hermes recommends companies engaged in the government’s plans for infrastructure development. El Sewedy Cables and Orascom Construction are recommended, despite their relatively low upside potential, or likely stock price increase.

Analysis of Egypt’s 2010 forecast continues to call for GDP growth of 5 percent, with the caveat that internal consumption and government strategies will become unsustainable, should international investment fail to pick up.

President Hosni Mubarak criticized conferences on inter-religious dialogue in other countries, saying that because such conferences take place "behind closed doors, they don't reach the hearts and minds of the public."

The president's comments were part of a speech given on his behalf by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif at the inaugural session of the 22nd International Islamic Conference of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, entitled "The Objectives of the Islamic Sharia and Contemporary Issues."

In his speech, Nazif mentioned several thoughts by President Mubarak on the subject of religious extremism and tolerance:

People from other religions misunderstand Islam, so Islamic scholars must double their efforts to promote the real image of Islam and Muslims;

The president renews calls for "an enlightened religious discourse based on tolerance and acceptance of others;”
Muslims are in need of an educational system and media outlets that embody these values;

Waves of fanaticism and extremism among youth hinder development efforts in the Islamic world and prevent Muslims from taking serious steps toward development and progress.

Egyptian Minister of Endowments Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzoq attended the conference and said that all prejudice concerning Islam should be addressed. He criticized movements in the Islamic world that seek to instill false religious concepts among youth and push some of them to carry out foolish acts.

Pope Shenouda III, also present at the conference, focused his speech on the freedom of religion called for by Islam, citing a verse from the Quran that states that there should be no compulsion in religion. He also described religion as a private relationship between an individual and God.

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Though problems persist, NGOs are starting to make headway
By Jessica Gray and John Prosser

Before the Alwan wa Awtar (Colors and Strings) center opened in 2006, nine-year-old Hoda Moustafa had never held a crayon. Like most of her peers living in the shanty towns around the Moqattam Hills, Moustafa grew up in by abject poverty. Her parents, unable to afford basic school supplies, did the best they could to provide for her but were more concerned with where their next meal would come from than teaching their children to sing or draw. All that changed the day she was taken under the wing of Alwan wa Awtar founder Azza Kamel.

“Moustafa was a very shy and insecure child. Most of the children that come in are the same. They’re not used to speaking or thinking for themselves,” says Kamel. She remembers Moustafa’s fear of her first drawing lesson. “She kept saying, ‘I don’t know how to draw. I’m hopeless!’” Undaunted, staff continued to encourage Moustafa, refusing to allow the girl’s self-doubt to prevent her from reaching her potential.

Four years later, Moustafa, now 14, has become a role model in her community. She joined a choir, has been featured in television interviews about the center and even placed second in a national peace poster contest.

For Kamel, there is no greater reward than seeing these children conquer their fears and express themselves through art and performance. The center, which began with just 30 students, now caters to over 4,000 and employs over 40 staff members, volunteers and teachers dedicated to giving children a safe haven to escape the streets.

Alwan wa Awtar is just one of thousands of grassroots non-governmental organizations (NGOs) nationwide that have flourished in recent years. Born out of a public desire to improve peoples’ lives — from basic education, health and social services to poverty alleviation efforts, infrastructure development and environmental awareness — community development leaders say reduced bureaucracy and a steady supply of willing volunteers have given them a fertile environment in which to grow and prosper.

But it doesn’t stop there. The trend toward greater civil engagement has extended to big business through corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and domestic involvement from international NGOs, establishing a new environment for public-private partnerships and innovation. While there are still concerns about Egypt’s seemingly insurmountable poverty rates and government reluctance to embrace change, social entrepreneurs aren’t prepared to let the challenges ahead keep them from making a difference.

Cutting Through Red Tape

Ministry of Social Solidarity figures show that the number of NGOs has risen substantially in recent years, from 15,000 in 1999 to over 27,000 as of 2008. Current estimates put that number at around 28,000. The ministry attributes the jump to Law 84/2002, which standardized registration procedures and revamped the rules and regulations governing NGOs. The law also exempted NGOs from certain fees and taxes, freeing up cash that could be better used to serve people in need. The government has also allotted LE 100 million in additional funds that NGOs can apply for through the NGOs Assistance Fund.

Wael El-Zoghby, executive director of the Baladna (Our Country) Foundation for Civil Society Development, says the 2002 law was instrumental to the growth of development organizations like his own. Baladna has trained more than 100 social entrepreneurs since it began operations in 2008. Currently finishing coursework in NGO management at Cairo University, El-Zoghby says his organization would never have gotten off the ground under the old law issued under former President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

“Law 84/2002 was implemented around 40 years after its predecessor. [] The [previous] law did not promote civil society or NGO work,” says El-Zoghby. “It let the government control everything and appoint each NGO’s board of trustees.”

Motaz Mahmoud Elewa is the community programs coordinator of Ofok Systems, an NGO providing information technology-based training to help individuals find employment and develop professionally. He agrees that government reins on NGOs have been loosened.

“In the last 10 years no NGO in Egypt could do anything without the government knowing exactly what it was,” says Elewa. “There’s no pressure anymore. ‘Why are you doing this? Why are you doing that?’ There’s more flexibility. Not because they don’t care but because they [recognize] NGOs are doing something positive.”

The ministry intends to further streamline the process and has created a committee supervised by the General Federation of NGOs and Civil Organizations, but the committee has yet to make any recommendations.

Dr. Adli Bishay, executive director and co-founder of the Friends of Environment and Development Association, says there is still too much red tape for NGOs that receive funding from international donors like the Egyptian Swiss Development Fund. In 2009, only 312 NGOs were allowed to accept international donations. His organization depends on funds from several global groups and would be unable to continue to support infrastructure development projects in Gamalia without access to that money.

“Once you get support, most of which comes from different international organizations, then you find another problem. The Ministry of Social Solidarity [examines] every small amount of support you get, in the name of security,” he says. “Every program that is foreign supported has to go through a number of security agencies before you get to use any of the money.”

He adds that the lengthy wait for funding approval can strain relationships with donors. Despite that, he admits that running an NGO is much easier than when he started in 1992.

Bishay says the constant requirement of documents and approvals at every stage before, during and after construction, was one of the main reasons that three buildings his organization built or renovated in Gamalia were finished years behind schedule. The most recent project, the establishment of an electrical and maintenance training center, officially opened at the beginning of 2008, long after Friends of Environment and Development Association had hoped it would.

Overlapping Enthusiasm

Despite some of the issues still facing NGOs, there is no shortage of willing volunteers looking to get involved — be they fresh university graduates or captains of industry. Many pioneers behind grassroots movements are young graduates, according to Ofok’s Elewa, but NGOs increasingly resemble big businesses in the way they are run.

“In the very beginning, civil society began by charity. People took care of each other [ by] making donations to each other,” says Elewa. “But this developed [and people began] to take this kind of charity to a bigger scale.”

A typical example is the Egyptian Food Bank (EFB), founded by a group of successful businessmen — with backgrounds as diverse as real estate and textiles — with the goal of utilizing their combined experience and connections to give something back to the community.

“God gave us a lot,” says Moez El Shohdi, CEO of the EFB, “and we thought we have to return some of that to the community — poor people especially.” He points out that this mentality is not necessarily limited to the wealthy, but manifests in anyone who wants to see an improvement in their surroundings. “It’s very easy [to find volunteers,]” says Shohdi, “but it’s a recent trend.”

Such eagerness to get involved with NGOs, however, needs to be better focused to avoid redundancy of organizations, says Iman Bibars, Ashoka Arab World’s MENA regional director. Instead of simply starting a new charity or development organization, people interested in civic duty should first see if there are any established groups that have similar programs in place.

“Some people have so much distrust of NGOs that they start their own, reinventing the wheel. This means they are competing with traditional NGOs. Very few business people from the private sector get involved in established NGOs,” she says.

Ashoka encourages this attitude by allowing established social entrepreneurs to access endowments worth LE 250,000 over the course of two years. The money is provided by private businesses and donors. Ashoka has so far awarded more than 50 such grants to Arab social entrepreneurs, many of them hailing from Egypt.

The future for NGOs in Egypt depends on a large number of factors, according to Ashoka’s Bibars, such as the political and economic stability of the region and how quickly donor money returns in the wake of the global economic slowdown.

There is also the question of how effective the majority of the country’s 27,000-plus NGOs are. That said, nobody can deny there are thousands of NGOs genuinely changing the lives of Egypt’s poorest citizens.

An attentive student and community activist in her own right, young Hoda Moustafa now wants to be a medical doctor; a dream she never would have pursued without the guidance of Kamel and her team at Alwan wa Awtar. Though Kamel has her doubts as to whether the government has made enough of an effort to promote social entrepreneurship here, she believes community leaders can still have a long-lasting effect on younger generations.

“Once youth actually get working with their communities they become really passionate about it,” she says. “We work with a lot of youth. I see a trend in that youth are leaving the private sector and high paid positions to work in development.” et

Egyptian Food Bank

F ormed four years ago by a group of successful businessman, the Egyptian Food Bank (EFB) has set itself the lofty aim of eradicating hunger in Egypt. Funded by commercial sponsors and private donations, the organization distributes food to underprivileged citizens — orphans, widows, the elderly and those unable to work — through 891 partner NGOs spread throughout the country.

A distinguishing feature of the EFB is its business-minded approach to non-profit work. Although it accepts all kinds of donations, the organization insists on funding any promotional campaigns itself and produces branded food products and distribution containers at its own factories operated at a profit — all benefits get put to good use elsewhere.

The breadth of experience garnered by EFB board members gives them diverse contacts through which innovative collaborations with the private sector can be established. Just one example: The EFB provides more than 17 million meals per month by redistributing leftover food from hotels and resorts — a scheme championed by the EFB CEO Moez El Shohdi, a former hotelier.

Friends of Environment and Development Association

Friends of Environment and Development Association was established in 1992 to bring attention to the importance of environmental issues and extreme poverty in Egypt. The association began its work by spending two years researching these issues, only to find that few cared when the paper was published and distributed. Undaunted, the association’s members decided to take matters into their own hands and rebuild and/or renovate three buildings in the Gamalia district of Cairo, one of the city’s poorest areas, best-known as the neighborhood of Naguib Mahfouz’s youth. The final building of the project, which houses a training center for electricians and appliance mechanics, was completed in 2008. The association operates thanks to international donors.

Alwan wa Awtar

A lwan wa Awtar began connecting impoverished children in Moqattam with art in February 2006. Starting with just 30 students, the center now serves over 4,000. The aim is to develop soft skills through performance art, music and drawing. The center also promotes education and has a community library. The goal for Alwan wa Awtar is getting youth off the streets and into an environment where they are free to express themselves and grow without fear of being discriminated against because of their poverty. Azza Kamel, the center’s founder, hopes to expand on the center’s course offerings with the help of over 40 staff members, volunteers and teachers with whom she collaborates.

Ashoka

A shoka is a global organization dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurship through endowments. The group’s regional office opened in Cairo in 2004. Since then, Ashoka Arab World has welcomed over 50 Ashoka Fellows, many of whom are from Egypt. Some of last year’s fellows include Azza Kamel from Alwan wa Awtar and Mohamed Sawy of the Sawy Culture Wheel. Ashoka also hosts social entrepreneurship conferences and has initiated several programs of its own to support the community at large, such as the Housing for All program, dedicated to providing affordable housing for low-income families, and the Ashoka Youth Venture to encourage young people to get involved in social entrepreneurship.
Ofok

O fok is a community-focused NGO helping individuals develop skills for the workplace through training in a range of information technology skills. Classes held at their offices in Mohandiseen also offer students business advice so they can optimize their career efforts, either by setting up their own enterprises or through partnership schemes with global IT firms such as Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft.

Investigators released a genetic and medical profile of King Tut's family Tuesday, led by Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. We asked Hawass to comment on the Journal of the American Medical Association study findings by email:

1. What do you see as the role of Molecular Egyptology in answering outstanding questions in the field?

A: Molecular Egyptology shows great promise for helping us solve many Egyptological mysteries. We can find out many things about family relationships, and also about some diseases. If this work is done scientifically, it an help Egyptology and can open a new and larger role for forensic science in the reconstruction of history.

2. How do you see these results affecting the view of the 18th dynasty family?

A: The history of the 18th Dynasty has many questions. The Amarna period, to which Tutankhamun belonged, has been especially vague. In the Family of Tutankhamun project, we will continue to work to try to identify both the mother and wife of Tutankhamun, and also study other family relationships.

3. How promising are the prospects for a similar examination of other royal (or other) mummies?

A: Yes, we will also study other family relationships. Next we will study the family of Ramesses II, where there are still a number of questions to be answered.

We hope to be able to put names to some of the other unidentified mummies, as we have done for Akhenaten and Tiye, from caches of royal mummies that were hidden after the end of the New Kingdom (the period when Tutankhamun and Ramesses II lived). You have to know that these mummies were hidden away at night by later priests, and they made some mistakes because they were human beings like us. So it is fascinating for us to try to use science to trace the truth.

4. What other points do you see as important about the study?

A: I am also very proud that we were able to do this work in Egypt, with an Egyptian team. The participation of our international consultants was certainly essential to the process, but our team was Egyptian, and this is very important for the future.

By Dan Vergano

Flush with ticket revenue from international exhibitions and local tourist sites, the SCA is in the midst of a project that will see 20 new museums covering every governorate, and long-closed favorites re-opening to the public over the next five years. More than just cash cows feeding on tourist dollars, however, the new museums are also hope to reconnect Egyptians with their own heritage, in their own neighborhoods.

“Ten years ago, we didn’t have any [major] museum, only the Egyptian Museum,” says Mohamed Abdel Fattah, head of the SCA’s Museum Sector.

Indeed, the nation’s most famous museum is also its most infamous, with many visitors complaining about poor lighting and labels, crowded displays and no air conditioning.
Renovation projects have added new display spaces for the royal mummies, temporary exhibitions and a revamped outdoor museum in the back garden. In January, a permanent children’s museum opened on the premises. The fact remains, however, that the nation’s collection of Pharaonic artifacts alone had outgrown the Egyptian Museum almost as soon as it opened in Tahrir Square in 1902.

The Downtown location was also considered a problem. “The people [in other governorates] are not able [] to come to Cairo to see the museum,” says Abdel Fattah. “We have to reach out to these people. We have to tell them about their civilization, about the history of their governorate.”

Until 2002, the museums were focused almost solely on the major tourist centers. Opened in 1892, Alexandria’s Greco-Roman Museum had a similar storehouse feel until it closed for renovation in 2005. The Luxor Museum opened in 1975, with a renovation and new annex completed in 2005. The Nubia Museum in Aswan opened in 1997, after 30 years in the planning.

When Dr. Zahi Hawass was appointed head of the SCA in 2002, he aggressively pushed for the new museums, according to Abdel Fattah. The SCA drafted a plan to build a museum in every governorate, as well as jumpstart stalled renovations on several others, including the Sohag Museum, delayed since 1998 and now set to open within a year.

Since then, the SCA has seen the Alexandria National Museum open in 2003, the Coptic Museum in Cairo reopen in 2006 after a complete makeover; a new site museum about the Pharaonic architect Imhotep open at Saqqara and, in November 2009, the re-opening of Howard Carter’s dig house on Luxor’s West Bank as a museum about the man who discovered King Tut.

Part of the SCA’s plan is to air out the Egyptian Museum, transferring more than 20 percent of the objects, including the famed royal mummies, to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in El Fustat, due to open in two years. King Tutankhamun’s treasures will be moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) being built at the Giza Plateau, which the Museum Sector head confirms is on schedule to open in five years. Abdel Fattah emphasizes that after an extensive renovation, the Egyptian Museum will still showcase some of the best antiquities.

In the short term, the Suez Museum, focused on the Suez Canal, is the first to be unveiled, expected to open in April this year. The renovation of Alexandria’s Royal Jewelry Museum is also near completion; according to Abdel Fattah, the SCA is “reviewing the labels” on exhibits while preparing for the opening ceremony.

Several other regional museums have already been built and are awaiting the next step. The Aten Museum in Minya — a 25-feddan complex dedicated to Akhenaten, the first monotheist pharaoh — is awaiting only on interior design work. The Sohag Museum, looking at the pre-dynastic period circa 4000 BC, is at a similar stage, as is the regional museum in Sharm El-Sheikh, which, according to Abdel Fattah, will open in a year and a half. The Crocodile Museum, next to the Temple of Kom Ombo, is complete and will open soon.

The SCA sees museums as a self-generating investment. Revenues from existing museums and international exhibitions have padded the SCA’s coffers, according to Abdel Fattah. In 2008, Dr. Hawass told Al Ahram Weekly that the SCA earned nearly $350 million (LE 1.9 billion) from 23 international exhibitions, such as the still-touring Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of the Pharaohs, over the last five years. The money is being funneled back into SCA projects with potential for big returns.

“I think within five years, the whole map [of Egyptian museums] will change,” says Abdel Fattah.

To that end, these new museums represent more than an attractive way to house artifacts: They symbolize a new way of thinking about how the country’s antiquities are preserved and presented to the public, especially to the nation’s youth. In addition to on-site conservation labs to preserve the artifacts, features like the Egyptian Museum’s new children’s exhibit will be a staple at all the new museums.

Egypt’s first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) venture is on track to be completed in 2012, announced the Egyptian Ministry of Finance and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The IFC hopes to finance five such projects in Egypt, and the first PPP venture will see the construction of an approximately $150 million wastewater facility on the outskirts of Cairo.

In May 2009, the government closed the international bidding for the project and awarded it to Orasqualia, a consortium between Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries and Spain's Aqualia and Aqualia Infrastructure.

With a capacity of 250,000 m3 the facility is expected to satisfy the sanitation needs of the growing settlements of New Cairo. The current population of New Cairo is 500,000 and is expected to increase to 3.8 million by 2029.

"We are actively working to collaborate with the private sector to meet the growing infrastructure demands in Egypt. This project is an important step towards setting the stage for future PPPs," said Rania Zayed, head of the PPP Central Unit at Egypt's Ministry of Finance.

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Egypt’s national security, understood comprehensively, is my primary responsibility, and I will accept neither complacency nor half-measures in regards to it.

We live in an unstable world, and a difficult region. It would be a mistake to ignore the growing ring of instability extending from Afghanistan and Pakistan, through Iran, Iraq and Yemen, and to Somalia and Sudan.

It would be a mistake to ignore the growing tides of sectarianism in the Arab & African regions and the world as a whole, nor attempts to ignite discord between the people of one nation such as demands for quotas, incidents of violence and bloodshed, and attempts to use foreign powers for domestic leverage; and external interferences that fuels fires, and which act according to their own interests and agendas.

The criminal attack in Nagaa Hamaady has shaken the nation’s conscience, shocked our sensibilities, and pained the hearts of Muslim and Coptic Egyptians.

Notwithstanding the execution of my orders to quickly capture the perpetrators, and refer them to the Emergency State Security Court, this horrific incident against the Copts on the Christmas Eve demands that all of us, Muslims and Copts, take a serious and forthright stand with ourselves.

I have received numerous reports from state agencies, and fact finding missions, which lay out the details of this sinful attack, including its background, details, and possible motives.

I, as President of the Republic, and of all Egyptians, warn against the dangers of undermining the unity of our people, and of conflict between its Muslims and Copts, and I state, in the clearest possible terms, that I will not be lenient with those, from either side, who attempt to undermine it or show contempt for it.

I was commander of the Air College in 1968, when Israeli warplanes bombed Nagaa Hammadi, and destroyed the Qena bridge. On that day, there was no difference between the blood of a Muslim and a Christian among the victims of that aggression. When we fought the October War, the people of Egypt, from all sides, sacrificed their blood and lives, and lifted the Egyptian flag over Sinai.

We are witnessing incidents and phenomena that are alien to our society, driving it to ignorance and fanaticism, and fed by the absence of an enlightened religious discourse from the men of Al-Azhar and the Church.

A religious discourse that must be supported by our educational system, our media, and our writers and thinkers; One that confirms the values of citizenship, that religion belongs to God, and the nation belongs to all; One that promotes the understanding that religion is a matter between a human and his Lord, and that Muslim and Christian Egyptians are partners in one nation, and that they are faced with the same difficulties, and that they share the same aspirations for a better future for themselves, their children, and grandchildren.

This is a necessary and vital role that must be played by the wise and the reasoned of our nation from all sides; One that confronts sectarian incitement, contains extremism, and which strives to build an advanced Egyptian society and modern and civil state; One which calls upon Muslims and Copts to strive to build schools and hospitals, assist the poor, and serve the nation.

The normal frictions of the daily lives of citizens, if they should develop a sectarian dimension, become a time bomb that ignites discord, undermines both pillars of the nation, and harms the image of our society, opening the door to foreign attempts, which we refuse, to interfere in purely Egyptian affairs that concern the children of a single family, and single Egyptian society.

To both wings of our society, I say, in the clearest possible terms, that we shall confront any sectarian crimes, acts or behaviors with the force and resolve of the law, with swift and effective justice, and stern sentences that will impose the severest penalties against their perpetrators and inciters, and which will deter those who make light of the security of our nation and the unity of its people.

Egypt’s national security, understood comprehensively, is my primary responsibility, and I will accept neither complacency nor half-measures in regards to it.

We live in an unstable world, and a difficult region. It would be a mistake to ignore the growing ring of instability extending from Afghanistan and Pakistan, through Iran, Iraq and Yemen, and to Somalia and Sudan.

It would be a mistake to ignore the growing tides of sectarianism in the Arab & African regions and the world as a whole, nor attempts to ignite discord between the people of one nation such as demands for quotas, incidents of violence and bloodshed, and attempts to use foreign powers for domestic leverage; and external interferences that fuels fires, and which act according to their own interests and agendas.

The criminal attack in Nagaa Hamaady has shaken the nation’s conscience, shocked our sensibilities, and pained the hearts of Muslim and Coptic Egyptians.

Notwithstanding the execution of my orders to quickly capture the perpetrators, and refer them to the Emergency State Security Court, this horrific incident against the Copts on the Christmas Eve demands that all of us, Muslims and Copts, take a serious and forthright stand with ourselves.

I have received numerous reports from state agencies, and fact finding missions, which lay out the details of this sinful attack, including its background, details, and possible motives.

I, as President of the Republic, and of all Egyptians, warn against the dangers of undermining the unity of our people, and of conflict between its Muslims and Copts, and I state, in the clearest possible terms, that I will not be lenient with those, from either side, who attempt to undermine it or show contempt for it.

I was commander of the Air College in 1968, when Israeli warplanes bombed Nagaa Hammadi, and destroyed the Qena bridge. On that day, there was no difference between the blood of a Muslim and a Christian among the victims of that aggression. When we fought the October War, the people of Egypt, from all sides, sacrificed their blood and lives, and lifted the Egyptian flag over Sinai.

We are witnessing incidents and phenomena that are alien to our society, driving it to ignorance and fanaticism, and fed by the absence of an enlightened religious discourse from the men of Al-Azhar and the Church.

A religious discourse that must be supported by our educational system, our media, and our writers and thinkers; One that confirms the values of citizenship, that religion belongs to God, and the nation belongs to all; One that promotes the understanding that religion is a matter between a human and his Lord, and that Muslim and Christian Egyptians are partners in one nation, and that they are faced with the same difficulties, and that they share the same aspirations for a better future for themselves, their children, and grandchildren.

This is a necessary and vital role that must be played by the wise and the reasoned of our nation from all sides; One that confronts sectarian incitement, contains extremism, and which strives to build an advanced Egyptian society and modern and civil state; One which calls upon Muslims and Copts to strive to build schools and hospitals, assist the poor, and serve the nation.

The normal frictions of the daily lives of citizens, if they should develop a sectarian dimension, become a time bomb that ignites discord, undermines both pillars of the nation, and harms the image of our society, opening the door to foreign attempts, which we refuse, to interfere in purely Egyptian affairs that concern the children of a single family, and single Egyptian society.

To both wings of our society, I say, in the clearest possible terms, that we shall confront any sectarian crimes, acts or behaviors with the force and resolve of the law, with swift and effective justice, and stern sentences that will impose the severest penalties against their perpetrators and inciters, and which will deter those who make light of the security of our nation and the unity of its people.

The announcement at the 1,600-year-old St. Anthony's Monastery came a month after Egypt's worst incident of sectarian violence in over a decade, when a shooting on a church on Orthodox Christmas Eve killed seven people.
The attack raised heavy criticism of the Egyptian government abroad and at home, by critics who say it has not done enough to address tensions between the country's Muslim majority and its Christian population, estimated at 10 percent of the 79 million population.

The government insists the shooting was a purely criminal act with no sectarian motives, and officials persistently deny the existence of significant Muslim-Christian frictions.

Top archaeologist Zahi Hawass took the opportunity to reiterate that stance as he showed journalists the work at St. Anthony's, an ancient compound at the foot of the desert mountains near Egypt's Red Sea coast.

"The announcement we are making today shows to the world how we are keen to restore the monuments of our past, whether Coptic, Jewish or Muslim," he said, referring to the dominant Orthodox Coptic Christian sect in Egypt.

"The incident in Upper Egypt can happen between two brothers," said Hawass when asked if there was any correction between the Dec. 6 shooting and the timing of his announcement at the monastery. "I want everyone to forgot this incident."

Hawass noted that the restoration work at the monastery was carried out by Muslims.

St. Anthony, widely revered as the founder of Christian monasticism, settled in this remote mountainous area at the end of the 3rd century to live in isolation. Upon his death, his followers built the monastery, which was completed around A.D. 350 remains in use to this day.

In the government-sponsored project, workers renovated the fortress-like ancient wall surrounding the monastery and the walls of its two main churches - the 14th century Church of the Apostles and the 6th century Church of St. Anthony. They also renovated monks' quarters and a 6th century tower into which monks would retreat during attacks by marauding Bedouin tribes throughout the Middle Ages.

A modern sewage system was also installed for the monastery, which is home to several dozen monks and is frequently visited by Christian pilgrims.

Amid the renovations, archaeologists from the American Research Center in Egypt discovered the remains of the original monks' cells dating back to the 4th century under the Church of the Apostles. After they were excavated, archeologists in 2008 covered them with thick glass so that visitors to the church can see them below their feet. ARCE also renovated stucco paintings in Church of St. Anthony.

The Egyptian holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheikh intends to slash its carbon emissions in the next decade to woo a growing class of eco-tourists, a senior government official who heads the $238 million project says.

Tourism is a crucial source of foreign currency and jobs in Egypt, accounting for about 11 percent of GDP.

"Tourists will pick places that are environmentally friendly and taking positive steps to reduce their carbon emissions," said Hisham Zaazou, a top official at the Tourism Ministry.

The plan is to introduce renewable energy schemes, cut water use and improve waste management to boost the environmental credentials of a resort where sprawling concrete hotel complexes have sprung up in recent decades.
Zaazou said the project would cost about 3 percent of the resort's annual revenues and the aim was for private investors to meet 48 percent of this.

"We are trying to entice the private sector to move in this direction," he said. He also added that several banks had indicated they would help with finance and some hotels were looking at putting in place energy saving schemes in their complexes.

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Egypt's economy will continue to defy headwinds from the developed world this year, helped by a strong consumer and banking sector and by sustained inward investment, Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamad Rachid said Wednesday.

One of Africa's largest economies, Egypt managed to grow by 4.5% in 2009, a year when Europe and most of the developed world suffered its worst recession in 60 years, and Rachid said the government expects growth to quicken to 5% this year and 7% in 2011.

Rachid also said that the government is keen to attract more investment in renewable energy, especially wind power along the Red Sea coast in the east of the country--"one of the best natural wind tunnels in the world," as he described it.

Egypt, whose production of natural gas has trebled in the last decade, has set itself the target of sourcing 20% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

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Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Yunis said Friday Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would soon hammer out a framework deal for a 200 megawatts wind farm at the Gulf of Suez region in Egypt.

Egypt's New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) and the UAE's state-owned Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company will be involved in the project, he added.

Egypt has already allowed the private sector to launch the first private wind farm project in Egypt with a capacity of 250 megawatts under the building, operating and transferring (BOT) system, he said.

The electricity sector in the country has taken all guarantees to ensure successful investment in wind farms, the minister added.

He expected Egypt's wind capacity to reach 7,200 megawatts by 2020.

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Fatakat, the first and largest of Egypt’s Internet forums geared to women has become a forum where friends share conversation and discourse on topics that range from modern Egyptian home-life to politics. It has been reported to be the second most-visited site in Egypt in 2009, according to Ratteb, a statistical source for Arabic websites.

Attracting the site's 180,000 members are Fatakat's 256,500 topics related to women, and the site has clocked up some five million visits since it went online in July 2007. Today, Fatakat attracts some 150,000 hits daily. The site aims to be for women "who have various experiences and knowledge that have enabled them to solve problems," Riri, co-founder of Fatakat, says.

Above all, for Riri the site is intended as an information platform for its members and a place where they can share stories and experiences, whether marital, financial, professional or parental. "[Members] teach each other foreign languages, recite the Quran and practise hobbies and handicrafts," she says.

Though all the members of the site have nicknames, many of them also know each other personally. "Some of our members visited my mother when she was in hospital last week. There is a good spirit among members, and I sometimes feel that Fatakat is like one big family," The Reality, a 21-year-old member of the site says.

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Today, President Hosni Mubarak gave orders to the Egyptian Government to send urgent medical relief to Haiti, following the devastating earthquake of January 11.

Egyptian humanitarian and medical relief will be sent in coordination with the international community's efforts to provide aid for the victims in Haiti.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit placed several calls to his Latin American counterparts to discuss the most efficient means to deliver relief. Aboul Gheit is currently urging Arab countries and members of the Non-Alignment Movement—currently chaired by Egypt—to provide medical and humanitarian relief to the people of Haiti.

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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to discuss the resumption of peace talks with Israel.

Israel, Egypt and the United States want Abbas to resume negotiations broken off a year ago over the Gaza war, but he refuses to sit down to talks as long as Israel allows construction of any kind in Jewish West Bank settlements.

There have been signs that progress was being made toward renewing the negotiations. An aide to Abbas said last week the region would "see important political activity in the next two weeks." Israel's ambassador to Washington Michael Oren has said Mubarak has a key role to play in resuming talks.

U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell is expected to return to the region early this year, and Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Intelligence Head Omar Suleiman are due to visit Washington on Friday.

Abbas said he did not know what had happened in talks between Mubarak and Netanyahu in Cairo last week, and added he did not wish to comment on that meeting until after Aboul Gheit and Suleiman returned from Washington.

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The initiative to boost use of Arabic on the Web was launched on Monday following the domain name registration, which opened the Internet to millions of Arabic speakers put off by a language barrier.

Analysts say Arabic is just 1 per cent of Web content.

Egypt, the first of nine Arab countries to have registered so far, has adopted the domain name .misr -- the Arabic word for Egypt and which will be spelt in Arabic script.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamel said both initiatives are part of the country's push to boost Arabic e-content and broaden access to Arabic speakers.

"In the future this (digital processing of Egypt's National Archives) will be very useful when we have the Arabic domain really operational," Communications and Information Technology Minister Tarek Kamel told Reuters.

"We are now preparing the content in Arabic that really reflects the long history of Egypt in digital form," he added.

Internet regulator ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, says the new Arabic domains are expected to start working during 2010.

Technology services firm IBM and Egypt's government led the project for digitally documenting the National Archives to set up a database for the country's cultural heritage.

"Arabic content on the Web will be increased by 25 million records in the National Archive's database," IBM Project Manager Ahmed Amr Ali told Reuters, adding that the National Archives' website had a sample of 1 million documents on the Web so far.

ICANN, which oversees Web addresses and records the names of their sponsors, voted to allow non-Latin script to be used in Web addresses in mid-November.

"Domain names will give millions of users access to Web addresses in their own language," said ICANN's Baher Essam.

"If you go out in rural areas and places outside big cities the majority are much more comfortable using all electronic services in Arabic," he said, adding mobile use would not have risen so fast in Egypt, where about 50 million of its 77 million people are users, without Arabic-language ability on phones.

Analysts said launching Arabic domain names was only a first step and Arab states should do more to help build up content.

"There are about 300 million Arabs and Arab content on the Web is only 1 percent of the global content ... this is abysmal," American University in Cairo assistant professor Rasha Abdulla said.

The two-day gathering focused on finding ways to build on the momentum and goodwill  generated by the speech that US President Barack Obama delivered in Cairo in June in which he  sought “a new beginning” in relations between the United States and Muslims. The long-term aim  of the Forum is “to contribute to accelerating the integration of the Arab world into the global  economy,” explained Claude Smadja, President, Smadja & Associates, Switzerland and cofounder  of the Arab Global Forum.

Through discussions and debates during several highly interactive sessions, participants identified  key areas on which the private sector can focus. Among them: education, the promotion of technology and communications especially the Internet, the expansion of microfinance, and the development of the rule of law particularly through judicial reform.
On education, participants put forward proposals to increase youth exchange programs and improve the quality of teaching in the Arab world. The goal is to provide adequate training for the growing ranks of young people in the region so that they are able to find employment.

“The demographic explosion is the single greatest threat to Arab prosperity and well-being,” warned Judith Kipper, Director, Middle East Programs, Institute of World Affairs, United States, in the closing plenary. “The answer is education.” Speaking in a morning session, Jeffrey D. Feltman, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, said: “If this rising generation can acquire the tools to achieve their potential, then they can be a powerful force not just for growth but also for good.”

In a keynote address earlier in the day, US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, the only Arab-American member of President Obama’s Cabinet, told participants that the US is ready to reach out to the international community, including the Arab world. “We will continue to work with any country to do all that we can to collaborate together,” LaHood said. “We want to build bridges and share expertise.” LaHood urged business leaders impatient for concrete results following President Obama’s Cairo speech to “be patient” and “stay tuned.”

The next Arab Global Forum will take place in the Middle East in June 2010. The Forum’s US meeting will be held in the first week of December next year in Washington, DC. Said Smadja: This is a process, not a one-shot event.”

Please click here to visit the Arab Global Forum website.

The Arab Global Forum will take place December 7-8, 2009, in Washington, D.C. This groundbreaking event will bring together Arab business leaders, along with experts, policy-makers and senior executives of international corporations with direct involvement or keen interest in the Arab region to lay the foundations for expanding business and economic cooperation.

Today, the Arab world countries represent a total GDP of about 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars. Under the theme, “The Arab World in a New Global Context: Challenges, Choices and Opportunities,” this first meeting of the Arab Global Forum will look into changes in the region and at emerging business forces in the Arab World.

Shafik Gabr, the founder and convener of the conference, is not only a prominent Egyptian investor and philanthropist, but also a man with a vision for his country and the Arab world. The level of hope and energy President Obama injected into the region last June has been astounding, and Shafik wants both Americans and Arabs to harness that energy into concrete action.

On Wednesday, December 2, Shafik did a live interview with FoxBusiness where he discussed the current stock market crisis in Dubai and how it impacts investment in the Middle East.

Come learn about Egypt during an information display at the Rayburn House Office. There will be posters with facts about Egypt, as part of the Egyptian Press & Information Office's 100 Facts campaign. You can also peruse the Press Office's new Web site, www.modernegypt.info, or sign-up to receive updates and e-alerts about Egypt.

The Rayburn House Office Building is located southwest of the Capitol, between Independence Avenue and South Capitol Street and First Street and C Street, S.W. The display will be in the foyer of the first floor.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Tarek Kamel and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr. Hani Helal announced today that Egypt had signed up to acquire the first Arabic domain name suffixed ".misr.”

According to Kamel, Egypt is the first Arab nation to apply for a non-Latin character domain. The effort is part of a broader push to expand both access and content in developing nations, where the Internet remains out of reach for wide swaths of the population. Domain names ended by “.misr” will then be available on search engines for internet users to find.

"It is a great moment for us," Kamel said of the domain name, which translates as ".Egypt".

The registering of the domain "will offer new avenues for innovation, investment and growth, and hence we can truly and gladly say ... the Internet now speaks Arabic," Kamel said at the start of the Internet Governance Forum — a U.N. - sponsored gathering that drew Net legends like Yahoo Inc.'s Jerry Yang and Tim Berners-Lee, known as one of the Internet's founding fathers.

The new domains stem from a decision taken at the end of October by the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a key Internet oversight agency, to develop a "fast-track" mechanism for domain names in languages such as Chinese, Korean, Arabic and others that do not use the Latin alphabet.

Yang said that while there are over 300 million Arabic speakers in the world, less than 1 percent of the content online is in Arabic.

The challenge "isn't just about getting as many people online as possible, but making sure that once they get online, they have something productive to do, something to gain, something meaningful to experience."

To read the November 15th AP article, please click here.

To read the press release put out by the Egypt Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, please click here.

Cairo, Egypt -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last Wednesday she took on the "complicated and difficult" task of trying to restart talks on Israeli-Palestinian peace during her talks with Egypt's leaders.

Egypt is "an essential partner" in that effort, she said.

"President Obama, special envoy [George] Mitchell -- who is here with me today -- and I are all deeply and personally committed to achieving a two-state solution and comprehensive peace between Israelis, Palestinians and all of their Arab neighbors," Clinton said at a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit.

Clinton met with Aboul Gheit and other Egyptian leaders before consulting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. She said she felt "very satisfied by what we accomplished on this trip" despite the complex issues at hand.

Sharif Kamal Shahin, a diplomat with 27 years' experience and a former ambassador to Zambia, arrived in Iraq on Friday, the source said.

Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman has described the move as an "important step to promote relations between the two Arab countries."

Shahin's arrival in Baghdad comes just days after a visit to Egypt by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

Cairo has had no official diplomatic representative in Iraq since the July 2005 abduction and murder by Al-Qaeda of its diplomat Ihab al-Sharif in Baghdad.

In October 2008, Ahmed Abul Gheit made the first visit by an Egyptian foreign minister to Iraq in 18 years.

Egyptian oil companies have said they are studying infrastructure and refining operations in Iraq.

"The Islam that we were taught in our youth is a religion that calls for peace and mercy. The first prophetic saying that is taught to a student of Islam is "Those who show mercy are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Show mercy to those who are on earth and the One in the heavens will show mercy to you. What we have learnt about Islam has been taken from the clear, pristine, and scholarly understanding of the Quran, "O people we have created you from a single male and female and divided you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another." When God said "to know one another" He did not mean in order to kill one another. All religions have forbidden the killing of innocents. To kill an innocent human being is tantamount to killing the entire humanity.

"Let me be clear by reiterating that Islam is utterly against extremism and terrorism but unless we understand the factors that provide a rationalization for terrorism and extremism we will never be able to eradicate this scourge. This must be understood in order to build a better future that can bring an end to this grave situation that is destroying the world.

"My heart, my thoughts, and my prayers go out to the families who lost their loved ones. We offer our deepest and sincerest condolences to the families of the victims and pray for a speedy recovery of the wounded. We demand the perpetrator to be brought to justice and stand the trial.

Click here to read the rest of the article

“Human Rights, Democracy & Legislative Reforms: A Vision From Egypt” 

Sponsored by:
Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
Wednesday, November 4, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
CCAS Boardroom, ICC 241

Please join us for a lecture by H.E. Dr. Ahmed Fathi Sorour, President of the People's Assembly of Egypt, which will focus on political reform in support of human rights and democracy in Egypt from past to present to future.

Dr. Sorour is the President of the People's Assembly of Egypt, one of the two houses that constitute Egypt's parliament. Throughout his career he has held many distinguished positions, including that of Minister of Education, President of the Supreme Council of Universities and several high-level administrative roles at Cairo University.

He obtained his PhD in Criminal Law from Cairo University, his LLM from the University of Michigan, and his BS from Cairo University. Dr. Fathi Sorour is the President of the Egyptian People's Assembly, one of the two houses that constitute Egypt's parliament.

To attend this event, please RSVP here.

Contact:

Center for Contemporary Arab Studies

E-mail: ccasevents@georgetown.edu

But what is less noticed by the media is the other way in which America’s armed forces interact in the Middle East and the Arab world — namely through training missions with key allies. If asked in what region does the U.S. military for 30 years hold its largest foreign training exercise, few people would guess the Middle East. Yet right now, we are seeing such an exercise with American forces taking place in the desert sands of Egypt.

Bright Star, as this exercise is called, takes place every two years and is a direct outcome of the 1979 Camp David Accords. For nearly three decades the U.S. and Egyptian militaries have worked together — a relationship that is highlighted and strengthened when our forces go to Egypt for Bright Star. These two weeks of training are now an invaluable part of U.S. Central Command’s engagement strategy, dramatically improving our readiness and interoperability.

What began as small-unit training between the U.S. and Egyptian armies has grown into a joint/combined coalition, computer-aided command post exercise with tactical air, ground, naval and Special Forces components. The exercise now involves more than a dozen countries and usually includes more than 70,000 troops. But it is also a living embodiment of the peace that has existed for three decades between the U.S., Egypt and Israel.

The exercise is a two-way street: Our forces learn how to operate in desert conditions and are exposed to one of the world’s great Arab cultures, and the Egyptians gain from our technical knowledge and the professionalization of our armed forces. As Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently put it, “We have benefited from the interaction with the Egyptian armed forces, one of the most professional and capable in the region.”

Over the course of three decades, our engagement with Egypt has expanded into a number of other fields. Egypt’s support was central to Arab participation in the first Gulf War. When U.S. forces withdrew from Somalia in 1993, Egyptian soldiers safeguarded the American troops. The country’s willingness to keep the Suez Canal open to U.S. transit and to allow U.S. air operations have made our many missions in the Middle East possible. The Egyptian hospital at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan sees more than 7,200 patients a month, significantly aiding our readiness. And Egyptian efforts to end the conflict in the Sudan through both peacekeeping operations and diplomacy are helping to destabilize radical elements that threaten the entire African continent.

Egypt benefits from U.S. military training and technical knowledge and an average of $1.3 billion a year in military and security aid. Expertise and resources are constantly being exchanged. In the past year alone, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has taught Egyptian troops to use advanced equipment to find and destroy tunnels used in illegal smuggling across its border with Gaza and significantly strengthened Egyptian efforts to tighten border security.

Egypt and the U.S. share the goals of destabilizing radical elements through moderation and creating lasting peace among all nations in the region. Our dynamic defense relationship sends a broad signal of deterrence through partnership and shows the world we value having strong Arab allies.

We welcome the chance of training with allies whenever we can get it, anywhere in the world. U.S. foreign policy and military decisions constantly stretch and alter our relationships with our allies. The value of a partner who has remained steadfast and dependable through difficult periods in a critical part of the world cannot be overestimated. Through operations like Bright Star we learn the true value of our friendships with other nations and, for our military, this kind of exercise is a vital part of how we keep America safe from attack.

Anthony C. Zinni is a retired four-star general in the U.S. Marine Corps and a former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command.
 

Retired Four Star Marine Corps General and former commander of U.S. Central Command, Anthony C. Zinni, commented on the history and benefits of the biennial Bright Star military exercises, currently taking place in Egypt, in today’s Stars and Stripes. For nearly thirty years the United States has taken part in the exercises, training in Egypt along side Egyptian and coalition troops, to improve interoperability and foster better cooperation among allied nations.

Zinni writes: “To keep our borders safe, sometimes it is necessary to project power outside them. Afghanistan is the obvious example of this — the mission to ensure that Afghanistan does not once again become a breeding ground from which terrorists can attack America and the rest of the world is a complicated-but-necessary one.

But what is less noticed by the media is the other way in which America’s armed forces interact in the Middle East and the Arab world — namely through training missions with key allies. If asked in what region does the U.S. military for 30 years hold its largest foreign training exercise, few people would guess the Middle East. Yet right now, we are seeing such an exercise with American forces taking place in the desert sands of Egypt.

Bright Star, as this exercise is called, takes place every two years and is a direct outcome of the 1979 Camp David Accords. For nearly three decades the U.S. and Egyptian militaries have worked together — a relationship that is highlighted and strengthened when our forces go to Egypt for Bright Star. These two weeks of training are now an invaluable part of U.S. Central Command’s engagement strategy, dramatically improving our readiness and interoperability.”

To read the full text of the op-ed, please click here.

The race is being organized under the direction of First Lady Suzanne Mubarak and supported by different organizations from Egypt and the U.S. Breast cancer advocates from the U.S. and the Middle East will gather in Egypt to increase breast cancer awareness throughout the region.

Dr. Mohamed Shaalan, chairman of the Breast Cancer Foundation in Egypt, said “the week’s events are a demonstration of the cooperation between countries, governments, civil society, advocates, survivors and the global community as a whole. It shows that breast cancer has no boundaries and reveals the beauty of the world’s unity in its fight against breast cancer …”

A series of events will take place during the week of October 21-27, including the training and commemorations in Alexandria on October 21-22 and the University of Florida’s Multidisciplinary Symposium on Breast Cancer Disease on October 24-27.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Egypt's GB Auto will form a subsidiary to help buyers purchase on credit vehicles from India's Bajaj a move that would allow GB to expand sales among lower income groups, GB said on Thursday.

The venture would acquire Bajaj-branded motorcycles and threewheelers (tuk tuks) already imported and assembled by GB Auto and allow them to be sold to consumers unable to obtain mainstream financing, the company said in a statement.

"This venture will bring GB Auto products to new customers and address a gap in available credit that is restricting sales in a fast-growing line of business," Chief Executive Officer Raouf Ghabbour said in the statement.

GB Auto, Egypt's biggest listed automobile maker and assembler, said motorcycle and threewheeler sales totaled 500 million Egyptian pounds ($91.3 million) in 2008 and would more than double over the next three years.

Threewheelers made by Bajaj hold a 95 percent market share of such vehicles sold in Egypt and its motorcycles account for one of every four motorcycles sold in the most populous Arab country.

Read the article here.

United Arab Emirates-based Dana Gas said on Tuesday it had made two gas finds in Egypt with reserves totaling an estimated 86 billion cubic feet.

The gas was located in Faraskur-1 and Marzouk-2 in one of its concessions in the Egyptian Nile Delta, the company said in a statement.

"The discoveries at the Marzouk-2 and Faraskur-1 wells represent the eighth and ninth discoveries from our 2008-09 drilling campaign in the Nile Delta," said Chief Executive Ahmed al-Arbeed.

"The ... drilling campaign is continuing to yield very positive results, boosting Dana Gas' production and profitability," he added.

The Faraskur-1 discovery, which is alone expected to add up to 73 billion cubic feet to the company's Egyptian reserves, is located in the West El Manzala Concession, the statement said.

Dana Gas, which relies on Egypt for the bulk of its income, said last year that it planned to invest about $500 million in Egypt and Iraq's Kurdish region in 2009 to boost natural gas output.

To read the full article, please click here.

America and the West have been victims of violent extremists acting in the name of Islam, the tragic events of 9/11 being only the most egregious of their attacks. Western officials and commentators are consumed by the question, "Where are the moderates?" Many, seeing only the extremism perpetuated by a radical few, despair of finding progressive and peaceful partners of standing in the Muslim world.

However, reconciling Islam with modernity has been an imperative for Muslims before it became a preoccupation for the West. In particular, the process dates back to the 19th century, when what became known as the Islamic reform movement was born in Al Azhar University in Cairo, Islam's premiere institution of learning.

At the Dar al Iftaa, Egypt's supreme body for Islamic legal edicts over which I preside, we wrestle constantly with the issue of applying Islam to the modern world. We issue thousands of fatwas or authoritative legal edicts—for example affirming the right of women to dignity, education and employment, and to hold political office, and condemning violence against them. We have upheld the right of freedom of conscience, and of freedom of expression within the bounds of common decency. We have promoted the common ground that exists between Islam, Christianity and Judaism. We have underscored that governance must be based on justice and popular sovereignty. We are committed to human liberty within the bounds of Islamic law. Nonetheless, we must make more tangible progress on these and other issues.

We unequivocally condemned violence against the innocent during Egypt's own struggle with terrorism in the 1980s and 90's, and after the heinous sin of 9/11. We continue to do so in public debates with extremists on their views of Islam, in our outreach to schools and youth organizations, in our training of students from all across the world at Egypt's theological institutions, and in our counseling of captured terrorists. As the head of the one of the foremost Islamic authorities in the world, let me restate: The murder of civilians is a crime against humanity and God punishable in this life and the next.

Yet, just as we recommit to reinforcing the values of moderation in our faith, we look to the United States to assume its responsibility for the sake of a better relationship between the West and Islam.

First, it is essential that the U.S. confront the fear and misunderstanding that has often pervaded the public discourse about Islam, especially in the media.

Second, while we must strive to reinforce the common principles that we share, we must also accept the reality of differences in our values and in our outlook. Islam and the West have distinct value systems. Respect for our differences is a foundation for coexistence, and never for conflict.

Finally, there must a true commitment to the rule of law, and to sovereign equality, as the legitimate basis for international relations. While some of the divide between Islam and the West lies in the realm of ideas, it lies mostly in the realm of politics. The violence and the aggression to which many Muslim countries have been subjected are the main sources of a deep and legitimate sense of grievance, and they must be addressed.

Israel's occupation of Palestine must be brought to an end; its continuation is an affront to the fundamental tenets of justice and freedom that we all seek to uphold. In Iraq and Afghanistan, full sovereignty and independence must be restored to their people with the withdrawal of all foreign forces. President Barack Obama's historic address to the Muslim world from Cairo on June 4 was a landmark event that opened the door to a new relationship between Islam and the West, precisely because it acknowledged these imperatives. Yet much work needs to be done by both sides.

This week in Washington I am participating in the Common Word Initiative, a group of religious leaders hosted by Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. While the focus of this initiative has been to foster dialogue between Islam and Christianity, I will call for its expansion to include representatives of all the Abrahamic faiths. The road ahead will be difficult, but we can, God willing, arrive at a more peaceful future together.

Dr. Gomaa is one of the world’s preeminent scholars of Islamic Law. He presides over the Dar Al Ifta, Egypt’s supreme body for Islamic legal edicts, advising Muslims on how to abide by their faith in an enlightened manner while dealing with the changing circumstances of a modern world. This week he is visiting Washington D.C. to attend a meeting of the Common Word, a global initiative to explore and promote the common ground between two great faiths: Christianity and Islam.

To read the full piece in the Wall Street Journal, click here.

Islam, Israel and the United States

Peace among the Abrahamic faiths will be built on respect and the law.

By SHEIKH ALI GOMAA, WSJ, 10/8/09

America and the West have been victims of violent extremists acting in the name of Islam, the tragic events of 9/11 being only the most egregious of their attacks. Western officials and commentators are consumed by the question, "Where are the moderates?" Many, seeing only the extremism perpetuated by a radical few, despair of finding progressive and peaceful partners of standing in the Muslim world.

However, reconciling Islam with modernity has been an imperative for Muslims before it became a preoccupation for the West. In particular, the process dates back to the 19th century, when what became known as the Islamic reform movement was born in Al Azhar University in Cairo, Islam's premiere institution of learning.

At the Dar al Iftaa, Egypt's supreme body for Islamic legal edicts over which I preside, we wrestle constantly with the issue of applying Islam to the modern world. We issue thousands of fatwas or authoritative legal edicts—for example affirming the right of women to dignity, education and employment, and to hold political office, and condemning violence against them. We have upheld the right of freedom of conscience, and of freedom of expression within the bounds of common decency. We have promoted the common ground that exists between Islam, Christianity and Judaism. We have underscored that governance must be based on justice and popular sovereignty. We are committed to human liberty within the bounds of Islamic law. Nonetheless, we must make more tangible progress on these and other issues.

Yet, just as we recommit to reinforcing the values of moderation in our faith, we look to the United States to assume its responsibility for the sake of a better relationship between the West and Islam.

First, it is essential that the U.S. confront the fear and misunderstanding that has often pervaded the public discourse about Islam, especially in the media.

Second, while we must strive to reinforce the common principles that we share, we must also accept the reality of differences in our values and in our outlook. Islam and the West have distinct value systems. Respect for our differences is a foundation for coexistence, and never for conflict.

Finally, there must a true commitment to the rule of law, and to sovereign equality, as the legitimate basis for international relations. While some of the divide between Islam and the West lies in the realm of ideas, it lies mostly in the realm of politics. The violence and the aggression to which many Muslim countries have been subjected are the main sources of a deep and legitimate sense of grievance, and they must be addressed.

Israel's occupation of Palestine must be brought to an end; its continuation is an affront to the fundamental tenets of justice and freedom that we all seek to uphold. In Iraq and Afghanistan, full sovereignty and independence must be restored to their people with the withdrawal of all foreign forces. President Barack Obama's historic address to the Muslim world from Cairo on June 4 was a landmark event that opened the door to a new relationship between Islam and the West, precisely because it acknowledged these imperatives. Yet much work needs to be done by both sides.

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, in an event entitled, "The Challenge of Moderation in Islam: Egypt's Religious Institution Versus Extremism" the Grand Mufti of Egypt Dr. Ali Gomaa told a crowd of roughly 100 people that radicalism has no place in Islam. The event was co-sponsored by the Middle East Studies program at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and the Religion and Peacemaking program at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

At the event, the Grand Mufti stressed the importance of understanding the true nature of Islam – a religion based on principles of peace, respect and moderation. He referenced the ease with which people can take messages from the Koran out of context, often interpreting these hallowed principles to mean the exact opposite of their original objective. He also answered questions on ways to promote moderation in Islam, how to combat terrorism and extremism in Islam and the Muslim viewpoint of terrorism and the West in a post-9/11 world.

Dr. Gomaa spoke about Egypt’s experience in fighting terrorism since the assassination of the late President Anwar Sadat in 1981, describing a two-pronged strategy; religious leaders work to rehabilitate violent extremists while public campaigns are mounted to deny religious legitimacy to extremist ideology and acts of violence.

The Grand Mufti said in his speech, “I’m here to express myself and to state (these) realities that I know to be true and which I have written a great deal about, and I do this to get rid of a lot of the misconceptions that may be around about Islam and its realities so that we can together move forward and enter into true relations and dialogue between the East and the West.”

Sheikh Gomaa continued to say, “The common ground that is shared between us is that we must respect human beings for their humanity. And for that reason we call to peace, and to rejecting and eradicating violence, and to rejecting and eradicating extremism.”

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Sheikh Gomaa writes that Muslims must “recommit to reinforcing the values of moderation in our faith” and called for the U.S. to “assume its responsibility for the sake of a better relationship between the West and Islam.”

The Grand Mufti is in Washington, D.C. attending the Common Word conference at Georgetown University, the fourth major Muslim-Christian dialogue conference of its kind.

Dr. Gomaa was appointed Grand Mufti of Egypt, and head of Dar Al Ifta, Egypt’s supreme body for Islamic legal edicts, in 2003 by President Hosni Mubarak, making him the senior interpreter of Islamic law in the country. He is active in global interfaith efforts, including the Common Word initiative launched by senior Islamic leaders in 2007, arguing that dialogue can dissolve barriers.

Dr. Gomaa has been a regular critic of interpretations of Islam that condone violence, and has written extensively on spirituality, prevention of violence, human rights, women's equality and peacemaking. The Grand Mufti greatly welcomed President Obama’s speech in Cairo, which called for greater interaction to forge new relations between the Islamic world and the West. On that occasion, Dar Al Ifta issued a document entitled "Our Faith," explaining the basic tenants of Islam.

The document can be read here.

The full audio of the lecture and Q&A session can be found here.

For more information on the Grand Mufti, please visit his official English Web site here.

To read the full text Grand Mufti’s Op/Ed in the Wall Street Journal please click here.

"We reject... any form of rebellion and any foreign interference (in Yemen). Egypt is supporting its sister state Yemen by all means at its disposal," he told reporters in Sanaa. 

The visit comes as Arab governments moved on Sunday to support Sanaa in its bid to crush rebels in northern Yemen, while clashes erupted in the southern city of Dhaleh over the detention of southerners viewed by the authorities as secessionists. 

Arab League chief Amr Moussa is due in Sanaa on Tuesday to meet President Ali Abdullah Saleh and discuss efforts to restore calm. 

Click here to read more

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has urged Israel to open talks with the Palestinians on the full range of issues blocking the path to peace.

Mubarak said they should move straight to the six "final status" issues: borders, the status of Jerusalem, refugees, Israeli settlements in occupied territory, security and use of water.

"What is required now is political will, particularly by the leaders of Israel," Mubarak said in an interview with the newspaper al-Quwat al-Musallaha (The Armed Forces).

Mubarak said he was in regular contact with Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

He said talks should resume where they left off under the previous Israeli government.

"It is not reasonable or acceptable to start from scratch. I told them that the negotiations should address all six final status issues without exception," he said.

Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, the first Arab state to do so.

Mubarak said that agreement, which saw Israel withdraw troops and settlers from Egypt's Sinai peninsula, should be seen as a model for future pacts between Israel and the Palestinians and other Arab states.

To read the full article please click here.

Egypt will offer two licenses to provide telecommunications services for upscale suburbs outside the capital, including fixed lines, a government official said Wednesday, in a move expected to bring in $1 billion worth of investments over the next five years.

Communication and Information Technology Minister Tarek Kamel said the licenses will be granted to a pair of consortia to operate internet, cable TV and phone services within these communities springing up around Cairo.

"These two additional licenses are for inviting consortia to come in from the private sector whether locally or internationally," said Kamel, speaking on the sidelines of the Euromoney Egypt conference.

The companies will not be required to submit an upfront payment, but the licenses would be based on a revenue sharing program in which the government would get 8 percent of the proceeds of operations within these compounds.

Telecom Egypt, the state-owned company, would still operate in these communities, including fixed line services.

Over the last few years, Cairo has been expanding and its developers have invested billions of dollars in new housing communities in the desert catering to upper- and middle-income Egyptians.

The government's move also indicates a shift in the responsibility for providing infrastructure from the state to private developers. 

Click here to read more

September 29, 2009

Egypt’s government expects to attract about $10 billion in foreign direct investment in the fiscal year through June 2010, up from $8.1 billion the previous year, Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin said.

“This is not hard to get,” Mohieldin said today at a conference in Cairo. The government will promote 52 projects to foreign investors, including Asian and Gulf Arab sovereign wealth funds, he said.

The government expects growth of more than 5 percent in the fiscal year through June 30 and is drafting a law to encourage companies to invest in infrastructure, Mohieldin said.

Egypt’s economy expanded 4.7 percent in the fiscal year, exceeding the International Monetary Fund’s forecast of 4 percent to 4.5 percent. That compares with the 7 percent growth that the country achieved in the previous three years.

The 52 projects that the government is promoting include energy, housing, water distillation and roads, Mohieldin said.

A support package of up to 15 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.7 billion) for infrastructure, proposed by the Economic Development Ministry last month, won’t be necessary unless investment by Egyptian or foreign companies falls short of targets, the minister said.

Click here for the full article

Egypt's economy is projected to grow by over 5 percent in the fiscal year ending in June 2010, the country's investment minister said Tuesday. This latest projection is higher than the 4.7 percent growth achieved in the last fiscal year

Foreign direct investment, which along with tourism, the Suez Canal and worker remittances, make up the key revenue sources for the country, is expected to be about $10 billion in the coming fiscal year, Mohieddin said.

That is a rebound from the $8.1 billion level reported in the last fiscal year as the financial crisis squeezed the global economy.

Egypt had embarked on a sweeping financial and economic reform program several years ago. The country reformed its banking sector and is working on simplifying other business services.

It was ranked for the fourth year in a row among the Global Top 10 Reforming Governments by the World Bank.

Click here to read the full article

100 Facts about Egypt, Fact #3

The Affordable Mortgage Finance Program seeks to fulfill one of the government’s key priorities in providing affordable housing for low and middle-income households.

The Program is a result of the strong partnership established between the Ministry of Investment, the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development, and the World Bank.

“We are pleased to support the ongoing development of the mortgage market and the creation of a more efficient housing finance market that targets low and middle income groups,” said Emmanuel Mbi, Country Director for Egypt , Yemen and Djibouti .

The Program has three main components: Strengthening the legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the Mortgage Finance Subsidies Program; developing an effective and efficient mortgage finance subsidy mechanism; and improving the institutional framework to enhance transparency and targeting of housing subsidies. 

Click here to read the full article

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Tarek Kamel said that one of the most important usages of e-signature would be to issue permits, collect taxes and tariffs.

The E-Signature law reflects the Government's belief that facilitating IT tools and applications in using e-signature supports the transformation into an electronic world where the security of people's money and papers is further guaranteed.

In addition, the expansion in the use of e-signature adds to Egypt's competitiveness and is expected to boost investments.

Government’s savings as a result of this electronic authentication system are expected to be diverged into funding for social and development programs.

Click here to read the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Press Release

Aboul Gheit said Israel is assumed to possess nuclear weapons, and if Iran is also acquiring a nuclear capability many countries in the Middle East would be uneasy, triggering an arms race.

Reacting to the news about Iran’s recently revealed uranium plant, Ahmed Abul Gheit told the daily Asharq Al-Awsat that the new uranium enrichment plant triggered "mounting suspicions", noting that the new plant in Qom signals intentions that should not be allowed"

The discovery of the plant's existence "is a negative development and we believe that Iran should have notified the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) years ago."

He stressed the necessity for the region, including Israel, to be free of nuclear weapons.

Click here and here to read more

Egypt's first solar power station will operate at full capacity in 2010, state news agency MENA reported on Monday.

The agency quoted Minister of Electricity Hassan Younes saying the station, located just south of Cairo in Koraymat, would have a capacity of 140 megawatts.

The power station is part of a larger facility that also includes three non-solar units and is expected to generate 2,900 megawatts once it comes on-stream.

Younes said the project was already connected to the national electricity distribution grid, adding that 99 percent of Egypt's population was connected to the grid, the highest rate in Africa.

Egypt aims to generate 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

Click here to read more

100 Facts about Egypt, Fact # 7

A 6,000-square-foot exhibit titled “Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science” opens in October at the Cincinnati Museum Center. On display will be the mummy of a 4 year old boy, along with real artifacts and hands on activities illustrating Egypt’s culture and people.

The exhibit was created and produced by the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, where it premiered in May, and was built by the Science Museum of Minnesota. It includes human and animal mummies and scans showing what's inside them, a life-size rapid prototype of a mummy in a stage of unwrapping, forensic facial reconstructions and videos and photos showing Egyptology experts in the field.

The mummy of the young boy will appear at the exhibit's stop at the Museum Center, which received it as a gift from the Cincinnati Art Museum earlier this month. Museum Center officials believe Lost Egypt will mark the first time the mummy has been on exhibit. With no hieroglyphs to indicate his real name on the linen wrappings, they have named him Umi, which is pronounced "OO-me" and means "life."

"It hasn't been treated with total care, but it's still in remarkable condition," says Gene Kritsky, a biology professor at the College of Mount St. Joseph and a former Fulbright scholar in Egypt who has studied Egyptian amulets and hieroglyphics extensively.

The 38-inch-long mummy first arrived in Cincinnati in 1950, when the Cincinnati Art Museum acquired it from Edward L. Bernays of New York, a nephew of Sigmund Freud and a public relations pioneer whose clients included Procter & Gamble. In a 1949 letter, Bernays wrote that he obtained the mummy from "a distinguished student of the Near East," according to the Museum Center.

The University of Cincinnati took radiographic scans of the mummy in 1983, which revealed 24 small amulets and that the mummy likely was a 3- or 4-year-old boy based on its teeth and skeleton. The mummy originally had been identified as that of an 8- or 9-year-old princess.

But further investigation conducted this year has revealed much more about the mummy. University of Cincinnati radiologists conducted CT (computerized tomography) scans that produced high-resolution images showing things the 1983 scans could not detect: Molded reliefs of the amulets of Egyptian deities, animals and symbols and a wooden board, painted with hieroglyphs, on which the skeleton rests. With carbon dating, the board could help determine the child's age.

Click here to read more

Click here for more information on the exhibit

* Negotiations must begin at the earliest possible opportunity, with the international community providing a clear vision for a final settlement
* Israel must commit to and abide by a complete settlement freeze in all the occupied territories including East Jerusalem
* The settlement freeze must continue in parallel with the negotiating process to strengthen Palestinian confidence in Israel intentions.
* If an agreement on final borders is reached, and they will be based on the 1967 borders as agreed during US-sponsored negotiations in 2008, that agreement may implemented in a gradual manner on a time table agreed to by the parties.
* East Jerusalem in as integral and inalienable part of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and a final status issue which must be part of any upcoming negotiations
* Israel’s engagement in serious, credible, clearly-defined and time bound negotiations may restore Arab engagement with Israel with a view to supporting mutual trust, and the negotiating process as a whole

On a related noted, the Egyptian Foreign minister along with the Secretary-General of the Arab League urged President Barack Obama on Friday to present his own outline of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, in order to break the current deadlock and spur negotiations.

Aboul Gheit said such a deal should be based on the idea of a Palestinian state in the territories occupied by Israel in the 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. A framework should also state that Israelis and Palestinians agree to live in peace and security, and outline steps toward normalization, he said.

This outline "would allow the parties to negotiate the end game," Aboul Gheit told The Associated Press in an interview, after meeting earlier in the day with Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell.

Click here to read more

Click here to read Minister Aboul Gheit’s full speech at the United Nations

Egypt’s ambassador to the United States told a standingroom-only-crowd at the Clinton School of Public Service on Wednesday that resolving the many challenges in the Middle East, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is in the world’s best interest.

“The Israeli-Palestian conflict remains the most pressing issue in the Middle East,” Sameh Shoukry said during the lunchtime speech in Little Rock.

Shoukry acknowledged that Iran’s nuclear ambitions must be addressed and extremism must be combated, but said reaching a settlement for Mideast peace is vital.

“Resolving the conflict permanently and comprehensively with the goal of establishing ... a viable and sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza would first and foremost put an end to more than six decades of Palestinian suffering and contribute significantly to the security and stability of all the states of the Middle East,” he said.

The United States, he said, has a responsibility to play a key role in brokering an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Shoukry’s speech came a day after President Barack Obama met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to urge them to restart the Middle East peace process.

“Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations - it is time to move forward,” Obama said Tues- day after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

“It is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that’s necessary to achieve our goals. Permanent status negotiations must begin and begin soon.”

Shoukry lauded Obama’s commitment to making progress in negotiations, especially at a time when Obama is dealing with issues such as a weakened economy and health care in the United States.

He also praised Obama for flying to Egypt in June to address Muslims and Arabs around the world.

In his speech, Obama said that as long as the relationship between Muslims and the West is defined by differences, “we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity.”

Shoukry said Obama has made a commitment to improving those relationships, but he must follow through.

“Although President Obama won the first round in the battle of captivating the hearts and minds, we all understand that one impressive speech will not erase years of mistrust and missed opportunities,” he said. “Deeds will have to follow words.”

Ambassador Fahmy is the Dean of the School of Public Affairs at the American University in Cairo and Chair of the Center for Nonproliferation studies in the Middle East.

To read the full piece on The Huffington Post website, click here.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

A Clear Path Forward for the UN on Nuclear Disarmament

By Nabil Fahmy

This week, President Obama will chair a UN Security Council meeting on nuclear nonproliferation – the first time that a US president has ever done this.

In April, the U.S. president called for a nuclear free world in a keynote speech in Prague. At the time, many dismissed the remarks as the dreamy notions of a young administration with little national security experience. But President Obama's speech was not a lone shot in the dark. Several months earlier, four Cold War era American elder statesmen - Henry Kissinger, William Perry, George Shultz and Sam Nunn - had issued a similar call.

There is a new consensus forming around the nuclear issue and a new willingness for countries to act. For years, the nuclear debate revolved around those few countries that had nuclear weapons and those - equally small in number - trying to get them. Today, the security paradigm for the nuclear world has altered. The imminent threat no longer comes from a handful of superpowers, but the potential for the acquisition of nuclear weapons by unstable regimes and non-state entities. This reality affects us all. This status quo is not acceptable.

To read more, click here.

"We are reassured that everything is in place; no country could have done more than what Egypt achieved in such a period of time," Jack A. Warner, FIFA vice-president and Organizing Committee chairman, said in a press conference Wednesday.

"We are happy that Egypt, a country where football is like a religion, is hosting the second biggest tournament organized by FIFA with all this business and governmental support to the tournament," he added.

While all eyes will be on Egypt, more than 60 talent scouts representing top European clubs will be looking for future talents like Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Luis Figo whose launching pad was the U-20 World Cup.
With players like Mohamed Talaat, Ahmed Shokry, Moaz El Henawy and Mohamed Abu Gabal, the Egyptian team is aiming for the top spot and breaking their third place record reached in Argentina in 2001.

Click here to read more

The most compelling problems in the Middle East, from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to prospects of a nuclear-armed Iran, require full engagement by the United States to solve, Egypt’s ambassador to the U.S. said today.

“We are encouraged by signs of determination by the (Obama) administration,” Ambassador Sameh Shoukry said during a speech to students at the Clinton School of Public Service.

“These challenges have a wide-ranging impact both on the region and beyond,” Shoukry said. “This has led us to an obvious conclusion, in that positive engagement with the U.S. and rallying behind the international community is crucial to address these challenges.”

He said the U.S.-Egyptian partnership is strong, and he encouraged President Obama to move forward in efforts to help negotiate a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Shoukry also said Egypt supports Obama’s desire to “seek a world free of nuclear weapons,” and he warned that Iran’s development of nuclear weapons would set off a dangerous arms race in the Middle East.

Click here to read the full text of the article

Check back here for a video of the Ambassador’s full speech

A third Egyptian medical convey began its mission in Darfur on September 16 according to a statement by the spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The spokesman noted that Egypt had dispatched a medical convoy in April 2009 that included 40 physicians that were assigned to the main hospitals of the three capitals of the Darfur region, and that a medical convoy that had treated 18,000 Darfurians was also sent in mid-July.

Egypt’s assistance to Darfur also includes sending food aid to various cities (at a cost of approximately USD 1 million from January to July 2008), digging wells in Darfur, providing training programs in agriculture, health and education to governmental and non governmental agencies. Egypt’s assistance aims at supporting peace, stability and development in Darfur.

Please click here to read the article on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

In partnership with Travco, a tourism group in Egypt, Air Arabia has announced its plans to launch a new low-cost airline in Egypt with destinations to Europe, Middle East and Africa. Air Arabia, the first low-cost airline in the Middle East, has announced a 21 percent increase in net profits for the first half of 2009 despite its many competitors and the global financial downturn. Egypt is the airline’s third hub after Morocco and UAE.

Cairo International Airport is already the second busiest airport in Africa, after Johannesburg International in South Africa, and also the fastest growing airport in the Middle East. The Air Arabia expansion is expected to boost the Egyptian tourism sector even more - a significant benefit to the Egyptian economy, which has already outperformed expectations this year growing at 4.7 percent.

Click here to read more

Ambassador Mushira Mhamoud Khatab, Minister of State for Family and Population, headed the Egyptian delegation to the International Conference on Violence against women in Rome last week, where she chaired a special session on the right to education and gave a presentation on the Egyptian initiative on girls education which is being implemented under the auspices of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood. 

Ambassador Khatab asserted Egypt’s commitment to the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative, which aims to reduce the gender gap in schooling and to give girls equal access to all levels of education. 

The Egyptian Girls Education Initiative has been described in a United Nations Children’s Fund report as being “the creation of a new generation of schools for a new generation of women—women who are educated, empowered, and eager to take their rightful place in society, as equal partners in its development, be it in the family, in the community, or beyond”. 

Please click here to read the article on the Al-Ahram website. 

Please click here to read the UNICEF report, "The Girls' Education Initiative in Egypt."

Washington — Despite global economic distress, Egypt has once again been lauded for its reforms to promote ease of doing business by both the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

For the fourth year in a row, Egypt ranked among the Global Top 10 Reforming Governments by the World Bank. Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times evaluates countries based on government regulations and their impact on business prosperity. Egypt also jumped 10 places in the report’s global ranking of countries, and was among the top 50 in the categories of starting a business and trading across borders.

“Among the world’s 10 most active reformers for the fourth time, Egypt made business start-up less costly, expedited the construction permit process, expanded the information available from the private credit bureau, and created commercial courts to speed up contract dispute settlements,” the World Bank said in a press release.

Commenting on the report USAID said it was “honored to have partnered with eight of the top-ten countries,” adding that it had worked with Egypt “on reforms that reduced the capital required for new business registrations, made it faster to obtain required construction permits, and created specialized commercial courts to reduce the time required to resolve disputes,” and that “these reforms build on a history of USAID assistance in Egypt that since 2006 have reduced the time to register a business from 34 days to seven, reduced the time to register property by more than 100 days, and cut in half the time to export/import goods.”

Egypt also moved up 11 places in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report. According to the report, the improvement stems from Egypt’s reforms to improve the efficiency of labor and financial markets. It also notes the size of Egypt’s economy, stable private institutions and the quality of “transport and energy networks.”

“The indicator of starting a business has seen great progress since 2007, thanks to a package of institutional and legislative reforms: the cancellation of the minimum capital of the limited liability companies, cost reduction, setting up One Stop Shop service settlements at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), reducing the time needed to start a business to only three days and enforcing a taxation registration mechanization system so that taxation cards and social insurance cards now only take a single day to obtain. This helped improve Egypt’s rank in that indicator from 126 in 2007 to 41 in 2008 and 24 in 2009,” said Egypt Minister of Investment, Mahmoud Mohieldin.

According to the World Bank, healthy competition in the North Africa and Middle East region has spurred 17 of the 19 countries to reform business regulations. Egypt has been a leader in this development by implementing multiple reforms: cutting the corporate tax rate in half, simplifying tariffs and lowering personal taxes. As a result of these efforts, the unemployment rate fell from 11 percent in 2005 to 9 percent in 2009. The Egyptian economy outpaced expectations when it expanded 4.7 percent in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009.

The other countries named in the Doing Business top 10 are Rwanda, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Belarus, United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Colombia, Tajikistan and Liberia.

The National Center for Social and Criminological Research signed an agreement on Saturday with UNDP “Benaa Program”, a human rights capacity building initiative, to conduct a comprehensive study on human trafficking in Egypt. 

Ambassador Wael Aboul-Magd, Director of the Human Rights department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking, which has worked on addressing all aspects of human trafficking since 2007, saw the need for a comprehensive study to provide research based guidance to national policy making on this issue, and, in particular, to focus government efforts to combat this these illicit activities, and plan public awareness campaigns. 

On a related issue, Ambassador Naela Gabr, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Agencies, and chairwoman of National Committee, organized a meeting with representatives of civil society to explain and consult with them on proposed Anti-Human Trafficking Legislation. She stated that “the proposed law is based on the need to protect the rights of victims, and stress [their lack of criminal responsibility] for any illegal acts they may commit as victims, as well as providing them with all necessary health, legal, social and economic assistance”.

Please click here to read the article on the Al-Masry Al-Youm website.
 

The mayor of Tianjin Huang Xingguo is seeking to boost cooperation with the Northwest Gulf of Suez in order to increase the flow of investments in the region after Tiida Egypt, a Chinese company, won a bid to develop the North West Suez Economic Zone.

In a meeting with Egyptian Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin on Thursday 9/10/2009, Huang said that Beijing will be offering a USD 20-million grant to establish an investment service building in the area. According to Mohiedlin, the project will not only attract investors but it will also create jobs in the region.

Chinese investments in Egypt have recently increased with China owing shares in 865 Egyptian companies.

Please click here to read the original article. 

Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin will be attending a special summer session of the World Economic Forum in the city of Dalian in China today. The minister and his delegation also plan on touring three high tech zones in the province and meeting with Chinese officials.

The minister said that his visit to China had been very fruitful having achieved its main goals and that other Egyptian delegations will also be visiting China soon, including the planned visit by the prime minister next year.

Mohieldin also inaugurated on Saturday the Egyptian-Chinese Investment Forum, which will support economic cooperation between the two countries.

Please click here to read the original article.

Please click here to read more.
 

The initiative, which was initiated in 2006 by Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamal is part of the government’s commitment to increase access to technology and the internet, and is one of the components of the Egyptian Information Society Initiative (EISI), which the Ministry is implementing jointly with all Egyptian ministries and authorities to turn Egypt into a digital society through the spread of ICT tools. 

Please click here to read the original article on Al-Ahram news. 

Please click here to read the press release from the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

CAIRO: Egypt’s world ranking has improved a dramatic 11 places. Unfortunately for football fans, Egypt’s dramatic rise was in the World Economic Forum’s “World Competitiveness Report 2009/2010” and not the recent FIFA rankings.
Egypt is now ranked 70 in global competitiveness, up from 81 in the 2008/2009 edition of the report.

The report was generated based on surveys of business executives coupled with publicly available databases. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain moved just a single place forward. Qatar and the UAE remain the highest ranked in the region, both were in the top 30. 

Algeria’s shift was even more dramatic than Egypt’s, moving from 99 up to 83rd place. While Tunisia and Oman tripped a few spots in the ratings, Syria took a tumble from 78 to 94.

The report notes the pros and cons of doing business in Egypt. Executives highlighted the size of the Egyptian market, which was ranked 26, as well as the recent improvements in infrastructure.

Egypt has been heavily investing in infrastructure to boost the local economy: a new terminal at Cairo International Airport, completing the Ring Road in Cairo and accompanying bridge. Work has also begun on a new metro line and turning the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road into a freeway.

Much of the government’s stimulus package was spent on these improvements, which will assist the flow of goods and labor domestically.

Egypt also gets good marks for streamlining procedures to start a business, removing barriers to entering the market and most recently launching e-registration for new companies.

Those surveys noticed it now costs less time and money to begin new entrepreneurial efforts. Entrepreneurship is important to Egypt as it struggles to deal with unemployment.

At the same time, the report criticized the inflexibility of the local labor market, taking issue with the difficulty and high cost of firing employees. This makes employers reluctant to hire and serves to depress employment, especially for women, which prompts many to turn to the informal sector.

Malak Reda, of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, which contributed to the World Economic Forum report, noted that, “The situation approaches a dichotomy between the formal and informal labor sector. In the informal sector of course there is no firing and women’s participation in informal and agriculture is huge so we must be
cautious with official figures.” 

Nagla Rizk, a development economist at the American University of Cairo, concurred, noting that “Egypt, like any developing country, has a huge informal sector which sometimes gets left out of the national survey… micro-finance efforts also go uncounted.”

Both executives surveyed and Malak Reda noted that corruption is a problem in Egypt where baksheeh is a cultural phenomena. “Dealing with corruption is critical and there must be more effort,” Reda said, “The corruption laws need to be enforced and serious penalties need to be applied for those engaging in corruption.” 

Commenting on the World Economic Forum report, CI Capital said, “Since the onset of the global economic crisis, the government has shown continuous commitment to support Egypt's economy. By pumping in a LE 15 billion stimulus package; announcing a new set of investment incentives; and loosening monetary policy which was reflected in a GDP growth of 4.7 percent in fiscal year 2008/09.” 

The formalization of the informal sector is also essential, though Reda noted the problems inherent in formalization. “It is quiet difficult you don’t pay taxes and all the sudden you have to deal with a property tax and you don’t understand how it is calculated — it gives more incentive to avoid areas with taxes.” 

Increasing revenues from taxes is key to economic growth and one of the major reforms the country has undertaken in the past years. “Slowing expenditure, and aided by implementing an efficient tax collection system the fiscal deficit was contained to 6.9 percent of GDP versus a budgeted ratio of 8 percent. Such efforts have been reflected in the improvement in the investment climate and the country’s ranking amid the region,” said CI Capital. 

Reda doubts the government will be able to fulfill its commitment to reducing the budget deficit. “If they maintain the budget deficit I will be very happy, though of course at the present the government is in need of liquidity,” she said.

Egypt also did well in specific categories. Egypt was number 78 in basic requirements, 80 in efficiency enhancers, 71 in business sophistication and innovation. 

Please click here to read the article on The Daily News Egypt.

For the beautiful people, Azza Fahmy may be one of the best-known names in Egypt. 

A high-end jewelry designer, Fahmy's creations have adorned such beauties as supermodel Naomi Campbell and Queen Rania of Jordan. 

Her international luxury brand, Azza Fahmy Jewelries, blends Egyptian motifs and modern design to create high-end pieces. Working with precious metals and stones, Fahmy's work is inspired by the distinctive shapes, colors, textures and calligraphy of the country.

Cairo, the largest city in the Arab world nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets," is Fahmy's home. She thinks she may have lived a previous life in old Cairo, which has now grown into a mega-city of almost 20 million inhabitants.
"It's a strong feeling when I'm walking in the streets going to old houses, churchs and old mosques," Fahmy told CNN. "It's something inside me which I can't describe, as if I've lived before in these places." 

In the 1960s, Fahmy was the first woman to apprentice in Cairo's jewelry district. She says she'd whither and die if she ever had to leave Egypt. 

She takes us on a personal tour of the beguiling Egyptian capital, where she finds inspiration in almost everything she sees. "Everything in my mind is jewelry," she explains. "I turn it into jewelry." 

Ibn Tulun Mosque 

The sprawling Ibn Tulun Mosque, the largest mosque in Cairo in terms of land area, is also considered the oldest mosque in the city to have survived in its original form. 

"It's one of my favorite mosques in Cairo," Fahmy says. "The beautiful windows of this mosque give me a lot of joy."
Fahmy says she's always fantasized about the windows of Ibn Tulun. "One day I'll do a project called the Ibn Tulun collection, because they have 126 windows, I think, and each one is different. I see them as earrings, hanging earrings," she says, laughing. 

"They are geometrical designs each one different from the other, "she explains.

The jewelry designer says Ibn Tulun makes her feel serene, inspires her to "sit and meditate. The mosque is very strong, very discreet and very beautiful at the same time." 

The Hanging Church 

Fahmy explains that the 7th century Hanging Church, known in Arabic as Al-Muallaqah ("The Suspended"), is the most famous Coptic -- a sect of Christianity native to Egypt and Ethiopia -- church in Cairo. The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. 

"Each civilization gives the other civilization something and each civilization takes something from the other civilization," Fahmy explains about the different faiths in the Egyptian capital. "There is a continuity in the art."
"Look at the details of the wood carving!" she exclaims there. "Look how they mix the pattern," she says, gently tracing it with her finger.

"You see this pattern? The cross in the middle and four rectangles around it? I want to do the design of this as a rectangle and then the motifs in metal." 

Fahmy says she she's always searching for beautiful text -- inspiring calligraphy -- to use in her work. The Egyptian designer describes calligraphy as an art in itself, "the movement of the lines and the balance of the lines and the meaning in the text." 

El Moez Street 

"This is one of the oldest streets in Cairo," Fahmy explains as she walks along the colourful street bursting with life. "This street is part of me. It's my history, my life, my youth. This is the real soul of Cairo." 

Fahmy stands in front of the Al Aqmar Mosque, known as "the moonlit," and says she's inspired by the details in the architecture. Her eyes are immediately drawn to details throughout the city, she says. "All my life is details, details, details. You become specific about everything." 

"Do you notice these black and white stripes?" she asks. 

Fahmy says she loves the way black and white are mixed together in Cairo to "create all this balance."
"Art is all about balance. They are perfect in how they balance things." 

Workshop 

"I used to work in this place, Rabeh El-Selehdar," Fahmy explains as she enters the workshop where she trained as a young jewelry-making apprentice. "It was 40 years ago." 

"I went to the workshop, I introduced myself to a man named Hajj Said and then I worked with him for about three years," she said, no small feat for an Egyptian woman in the 1960s. 

She warmly greets one of the men working at the workshop. 

"He is the nephew of my master. He still remembers me," she explains. "I used to sit on this table and I used to help them file and solder. It was the beginning of my life." 

Fahmy's business, which evolved into the first Egyptian designer brand, is a family affair. Her daughters, Fatima and Amina, work with her. 

"I love the idea of the family business," she says. "I'd like to give this to my daughters [to] continue. I want to have a design house which can continue with the same message of carrying the Arab culture to the world."

Please click here to read the article on CNN.com.

The three-time world champion raced through the opening two games with some astonishing winners to delight a sell-out crowd around the glass court set up in the open air off Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, known as the Magnificent Mile. 

Number two seed Shabana was certainly in magnificent form and a quick finish seemed on the cards as he won the second 11-2. Shabana opened up a 4-0 lead in the third game but Ashour began to work his way into the match, taking control from 4-6 down to win 11-7. 

Despite that confidence booster, the 21-year-old reigning world champion made a slow start to the fourth game and Shabana won the first five points and maintained that lead to stand within three points of the title at 8-3. 

However, Ashour stepped up the pace and produced a succession of blinding winners as the crowd roared their encouragement. Shabana held match ball at 10-7 but Ashour won five points in a row to force the tiebreak and lead 12-11. Shabana leveled at 12-12 but Ashour maintained his push to clinch the game 14-12. 

The crowd, boosted by hundreds of spectators enjoying a free view of the action through the front wall, were delighted that the match was heading for a fifth game. Ashour led 3-1 at the start of the final game but Shabana regained control to lead 9-5. Ashour won the next two points and then sportingly conceded that a backhand drop shot was down as Shabana screamed at the referee. 

That gesture gave Shabana match ball at 10-7 and, although Ashour claimed one more point, the 30-year-old closed out an entertaining contest in 57 minutes of spellbinding squash. 

“Ramy is such a great player and as a world champion at 21 years old he seems to have been around for years,” said Shabana after his epic 11-7, 11-2, 7-11, 12-14, 11-8 victory. 

“He came back very strongly to win the third and fourth games and I was pleased to win the fifth game.

“The players have all enjoyed this tournament in Chicago and it’s great to see such big crowds around the court every night.” 

The players earned warm applause for providing an evening of outstanding entertainment and Ashour was given an extra ovation for his sportsmanship. 

He said: “As professional players, we have to be honest with each other on court, even though it gave Shabana match ball. Shabana played very well tonight and made it hard for me in large parts of the match. 

“I know I should be angry for losing but I am happy that we made the match very entertaining for the crowd.”
The triumph extends Shabana’s tour title tally to 24 – and also endorses the latest September Dunlop PSA World Rankings in which the former world number one leapfrogged younger rival Ashour to take third place. 

The win, which also extends his head-to-head count against Ashour to 7-5, will boost Shabana’s hopes in this week’s British Open in Manchester, where the third seed is expected to face compatriot Karim Darwish – his successor as world number one – for a place in the final. Runner-up in 2004, Shabana has yet to win the longest-standing title in world squash.

Please click here to read the article on World Squash.

The Egyptian government targets export growth of as much as 15 percent in the fiscal year through June 2010, Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said.

“This all depends on the rest of the world, because our main targets, our main markets are the United States and Europe,” Rachid said today in an interview at his office in central Cairo.

The global financial crisis dragged Egypt’s exports down 14.3 percent to $25.2 billion in the past fiscal year, according to the central bank.

Expansion of the domestic construction and communications industries offset the decline in Egypt’s main hard currency earners, helping the economy beat IMF forecast and expand 4.7 percent.

Expectations for strong growth in exports are backed by the fact that the so-called “capacity utilization” in Egyptian factories has been maintained during the height of the financial crisis, Rachid said.

“We haven’t seen layoffs. We haven’t seen any drop in production,” he said. “So if that had been the case during the crisis, I am hoping that we are going to resume growth next year.”

The government has allocated 4 billion Egyptian pounds ($724 million) in the current budget to support exports, the minister said.

The government is targeting an economic expansion of as much as 5.5 percent in the current fiscal year, Economic Development Minister Osman Mohamed Osman, said last month.

“I am a bit cautious about how fast we will recover from 4.7 percent to 6, 7 percent,” Rachid said, forecasting that the economy would expand about 5 percent.

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The report, in the Egyptian daily newspaper El-Sherouk, added that the IDSC had stated that there had been only one H1N1-related fatality to date and that of the 743 cases of infection reported so far, 626 had recovered completely, and the remaining 116 are in good condition.

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President Mubarak met with EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana for talks on the situation in the Middle East Peace Process, and other regional issues of common concern to Egypt and the EU, including the situations in Iraq, Sudan and Afghanistan. 

At a press conference after their meeting, Mr. Solana said that their talks were focused on the need to drive the peace process forward, particularly before the next session of the UN General Assembly this month, noting that in this regards the EU and Egypt share the same perspective. Asked to explain the EU’s policy on a settlement freeze by Israel at a press conference after their meeting, Mr. Solana said that “The position of the European Union is very clear, and it is that all [forms] of settlement activity must be frozen”.

In related news the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu El-Gheit, speaking at a press conference after a meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister on regional issues, including difficulties in the formation of a new Lebanese government and tensions between Syria and Iraq, stated that the Palestinians and the Arab states insist that the Israeli government declare a clear, and international acceptable position on a complete settlement freeze, including East Jerusalem. The Egyptian Foreign Minister also stated that the if an appropriate temporary freeze was announced, direct talks could begin, but that they would be co-terminus with a settlement-freeze period, adding that Egypt rejected an open ended commitment to negotiations coupled with a fixed-term freeze to settlements.

Please click here to read the article on the Al-Ahram website.

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The State Council, or Council of State, is the administrative court that presides over disputes pertaining to contracts and decrees issued by government officials and ministries. Governmental agencies often have in-house representatives from the State Council who advise on all administrative law matters.

State Council head Mohammad Husseini said nothing exists in the Egyptian Constitution or under Islamic law that prevents a woman from occupying an administrative judicial post, and women are employed in high ranking judicial positions in Gulf States.

Husseini added that the decision was taken on the basis of intense discussions within the State Council and that the decision was not imposed by an external political authority.

Leaders of women’s rights organizations praised President Hosni Mubarak’s work to end discrimination. Farkhanda Hassan, Secretary General of the National Council for Women, said, “this approach truly reflects the equality women achieve and it came in light of the implementation of President Mubarak’s directives to stop discrimination against women, and expressed its confidence in the ability of women to work in the judiciary sector.”

Between 2000 and 2008, Annual NET Foreign Direct Investment in Egypt has grown 26 fold, attracting USD 38 Billion.

For more information on investment in Egypt visit: http://www.gafinet.org/English/Pages/default.aspx

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The president of Qatari Diar, announced his firm plans to invest nearly USD 5.4 Billion to build a new residential city in Hurghada. The Qatari real estate, which has been operating in Egypt since 2006, is also involved in major investments in Sharm El-Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula, and in Cairo. The project will spread over an area of 29 km and will be completed over 15 years.

Between 2000 and 2008, Annual NET Foreign Direct Investment in Egypt has grown 26 fold, attracting USD 38 Billion.

Please click here for more information on investment in Egypt.

Please click here to read the article on the El Sherouk website. 

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During Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's visit to the US capital earlier this month, comments and media reports focused on the possible restarting of the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians. Little was said on the other issues, which is what the two leaders intended.

However, the main purpose of the visit had been to achieve a thaw between Egypt and the United States after an estrangement of some years which had become an embarrassment to both countries.

It had started with former US president George W. Bush and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice's well-meaning efforts to bring democracy to the Middle East.

Intense pressure was brought to bear on the Egyptian president to convince him to do something about human rights and to hold free and transparent elections.

Mubarak gave in against his better judgment. The November 2005 elections brought 88 opposition members - closely affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood - into the parliament. That was a fifth of the total number of representatives and it would have been more if the government had not taken some last minute (and highly undemocratic) measures to stop the trend.

Even the Bush administration took fright at this undesirable result.

It was too late: Congress had already cut American help to Egypt by $100 million and allotted $50m. to Egyptian NGOs fighting for human rights.

Since then a deeply offended Mubarak had refrained from visiting the United States. The strategic dialogue between the two countries went on, however, since it is of paramount importance for both, and included such issues as containing Iran, fighting terror, and the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians.

Then Obama was elected and everything changed. He came to Cairo in June to deliver his message of reconciliation to the Muslim world, had talks with Mubarak at the G-8 meeting in Italy last month and warmly invited him to a much publicized visit to Washington.

The old leader met all the important players, from Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to National Security Adviser James Jones and CIA director Leon Panetta. Mubarak also found time for a meeting with representatives of Jewish organizations to explain his policy towards Israel, a time honored tradition.
Following his talks with Obama, Mubarak declared that his Cairo speech had removed all doubts concerning the new American policy towards the Muslim world, thus giving Obama Egypt's seal of approval and putting an end to the coolness between the two countries.

After all, in Cairo the American president had given low priority to human rights issues, and the message had been well received by Arab leaders and particularly by Mubarak.

Arab media sources did report that the rais had discussed with his hosts in Washington some of the most pressing issues affecting the Middle East: Iran's aggressive policy and the situation in Sudan and in Somalia, which are perceived as a threat to the stability of the region as a whole, but more specifically of Egypt.

Also discussed was the war on global terror and the latest developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Egypt was wary of Obama's stated intention of opening a dialogue with Iran, because it would weaken the position of the Gulf States and of the moderate Arabs.

Cooperation between the intelligence services of Egypt and the United States was also emphasized, as a means to help Cairo since it is a prime target of terrorist organizations. However, the subject is all important to America as well since US and other countries's warships transit the Suez Canal on their way to the Persian Gulf.

Much had been made of the fact that an Israeli submarine and two missile boats had gone through the Canal the month before, in a clear attempt to illustrate the ongoing dialogue among the US, Egypt and Israel concerning the Iranian threat.

At the same time, in an effort to defuse potential negative reactions in Arab public opinion, Egypt was at pains to stress that it would not allow foreign troops or missiles on its soil. While clearly positioning itself at the head of the moderate Arab camp against Iran, Egypt still sends mixed signals. That's the way things are done in the Middle East.
From Arab sources one can infer that the situation inside Egypt and the social and economic reforms needed were discussed at length, as well as the way the country is gearing itself towards the general elections in 2010 and the presidential election scheduled for 2011.

According to the recently released findings of the United Nations Development Program, 41 percent of Egyptians live below a poverty line set at $2 a day, 12% suffer from Hepatitis C, and 40% are illiterate. Unemployment has reached 25%. These are the critical issues as far as Mubarak is concerned. He is well aware of the fact that holding elections as things stand could open the door to mass demonstrations. The past two years have seen a number of strikes - a previously unprecedented occurrence - and the government had to raise salaries.

To fund that step, subsidies of basic foodstuffs were slashed and their price went up accordingly. Most badly hit was bread, and this led to a new crisis. Army bakeries had to be pressed into service to produce bread at government approved prices. Whatever reforms Mubarak promised Obama, it is therefore highly doubtful that he can deliver, and there is little hope for a bettering of the economic situation.

To all intent and purposes, election campaigning has already started. Popular opposition movement "Kefaya" (Enough!) is already calling for a boycott of the forthcoming elections since, it says, "they can't possibly be free," and is trying to convince opposition parties to join. On the other hand, the Egyptian government is working hard to weaken the Muslim Brotherhood, which it sees as the main opposition force. Hundreds of its militants, including a number of leaders, have been arrested.

Hosni Mubarak turned 81 this year. He has been in power for 28 years. Though he is not known as suffering from significant health problems, one can see that the man is tired. The untimely death of his favorite grandson has taken its toll. He is therefore unlikely to seek reelection in 2011.

He might even resign earlier in order to hold presidential elections closely after the parliamentary elections. The seasoned leader wants to leave the country in safe hands and not risk an open election which might lead to the surprise victory of an untried politician or worse of a Muslim Brother. Such an outcome would probably provoke an army intervention and total chaos, not only in Egypt but throughout the Middle East.

This is why Mubarak, while denying having such an intention, seems to be grooming his 47-year-old son Gamal for the job. He made him deputy secretary-general of the ruling National Democratic Party and the head of its political commission.

In 2007, the elder Mubarak initiated an amendment to the constitution making it possible for Gamal to be the sole candidate of the party while making it more difficult for independent or opposition candidates to run.

At the same time, the name of Omar Suleiman, head of the intelligence services who holds ministerial rank, is often put forward by the media as a possible successor.

As things stand today there is no legal way he could be a candidate, since he does not have any position in the party institutions.

The fact that Gamal Mubarak came with his father to Washington is worthy of notice. It was probably intended to give him some much needed experience as well as to get him to know and be known by policy=makers in the American capital.

The younger Mubarak also launched an Internet dialogue with an Egyptian youth... as did Barak Obama at the beginning of his own campaign. By "coincidence," a well-known Egyptian singer launched a song asking, "Why should he not rule? Why should he not take the reins... Gamal Mubarak, president, son of president, don't listen to gossip on inheriting the power..."

Protests organized by the Coptic minority and Muslim opposition elements in front of the White House under the aegis of Saad Eddin Ibrahim failed miserably and barely made it into the news.

As we have seen, the media focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prior to his arrival, Mubarak had stated time and time again that he was against normalization between Arab states and Israel as long as the peace negotiations had not been completed, adding that there should be a freeze on construction in the settlements, though he stressed that negotiations were the main point.

He also said that Arabs were weary of the endless Palestinian issue but that without a solution more violence would occur.

Obama took pain to praise Israel for taking down illegal outposts and eliminating a number of road blocks in the West Bank. He stressed the need for a courageous leadership not only in Israel and on the Palestinian side but also in Arab countries.

The two presidents are in agreement on the urgency of the issue, though well aware of the impossibility of making progress as long as Hamas rules half of the Palestinian population. They are also aware of the fact that Israel will never accept an imposed solution, not from the American president nor from Arab countries in the guise of the "Arab initiative."

Mubarak did say that Obama would present a new initiative at the UN General Assembly in September, but this was denied by a State Department spokesman. There is no doubt, however, that the American president will address the issue on that occasion.

Mubarak has no illusions about the likelihood of Palestinians and Israelis reaching an agreement under present circumstances.

Egypt has launched an all-out effort to bring about reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, but has little to show after a year. Still, demonstrating that it is a main player on issues affecting its own security is of paramount importance for Cairo.

Egypt is also trying to mediate between Israel and Hamas on the issue of Gilad Schalit, but lack of results has led it to agree to let a German mediator have a go.

The problem is that radical forces in the region, such as Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas, no long accept long-established understandings. They exhibit an irrational stubbornness even at the price of causing great suffering to civilian populations such as in Gaza.

Egypt had to increase its control over the border, and indeed has managed to greatly diminish the flow of contraband weapons into the Strip.

To sum up, it was indeed an important visit even if little has transpired of the contents of the talks. Egypt after all is not only the largest Arab country, with the largest Arab army; it is also a much needed US ally.

Obama who now understands much better the difficult situation of his visitor, will probably tone down his criticism in order not to further destabilize the country. He also developed warmer relations with the aging leader. Altogether, a very positive development.

Please click here to read the article on the Jerusalem Post website.

“The Egyptian economy is starting to overcome the financial crisis,” government spokesman Magdy Rady told reporters today in Cairo. Economic Development Minister Osman Mohamed Osman and Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali had announced the data earlier to Bloomberg News.

In the third quarter of the 2009 fiscal year the economy’s growth rate was 4.3 percent, and in the fourth quarter the growth rate increased to 4.6 percent.

“This proves that the economy was more resilient than expected,” said Mohamed Abu Basha, an economist at Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes.

Acknowledging that the Middle East peace process is in a "rut," President Obama nonetheless voiced confidence Tuesday that a breakthrough can be achieved -- and he thanked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whom he hosted for meetings at the White House, for playing a constructive role.

"There has been movement in the right direction," Obama said. "If all sides are willing to move off of the rut that we're in currently, then I think there is an extraordinary opportunity to make real progress. But we're not there yet."

Mubarak, addressing reporters alongside Obama, conveyed his willingness to aid the effort. "We are trying and working on this goal, to bring the two parties to sit together and to get something from the Israeli party and to get something from the Palestinian party. If we, perhaps, can get them to sit together, we will help," he said.

Mubarak and Obama's meeting, their third in three months, marked a significant departure from the previous administration -- when Mubarak and President George W. Bush divided over human rights and U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Tuesday's events reaffirmed that relations have become warmer. But it was unclear how much progress the two would make on their top priority: jump-starting the Middle East peace process.

Soliman Awaad, Mubarak's spokesman, said Obama told the Egyptian president that a blueprint for such a process should be ready next month. Next week, George J. Mitchell, the special U.S. envoy for Middle East peace, and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu are scheduled to meet.

Obama has sought to persuade Arab nations to move forward with concessions to Israel, but has found little success. Mubarak, in an interview published Monday, said it is up to Israel to take the next step. And he said he told Obama in June, at the time of the U.S. president's address in Cairo to the Muslim world, that Israel must stop the expansion of its settlements.

"Some Arab countries that exchanged representatives and trade offices might think of reopening these offices if Israel committed itself to stop settlement expansion and to resume final status peace negotiations," Mubarak said in an interview with his country's state-controlled newspaper. Egypt and Jordan are the two Arab nations that have peace agreements with Israel.

Mubarak, who met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday, had a one-on-one session with Obama in the Oval Office, then joined a session involving other participants before a working lunch in the Cabinet Room.

In the Bush era, relations were strained over the U.S. push for democratic reforms in Egypt. Human rights groups say that country's authoritarian government detains people arbitrarily and puts them on trial in security courts that do not meet international standards for fairness.

The government also jails people for peacefully expressing opinions, the groups said.

State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters after Mubarak's meeting with Clinton on Monday that the democracy and human rights situation in Egypt was "an ongoing source of concern to the United States" and added: "It is something that we raise in every high-level meeting that we have. We would like to see Egypt embark on a path to expand political dialogue in its country, expand political participation in the Egyptian political process."

Steven A. Cook, a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it appeared that the Obama administration did not want to view the U.S. relationship with Egypt mainly through the prism of democracy.

"I think there is an effort to see the relationship in broader terms, because the experience of looking at it through the straw hole of democracy and democracy promotion and reform proved damaging to the relationship," he said. "Let's be realistic, Hosni Mubarak and the people in the regime don't really have an interest in reform."

After Obama met with the Egyptian leader, he held separate meetings with Clinton, who just returned from an 11-day trip to Africa, and former president Bill Clinton, who recently brought home two U.S. journalists jailed in North Korea. The latter meeting prompted Clinton's first trip to the White House since Obama took office.

Bill Clinton avoided reporters by taking a side entrance into his former residence. Hillary Clinton did not attend; a spokesman said she was scheduled to meet with the foreign minister of Colombia.

Please click here to read the article on the Washington Post website.

President Obama's second meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, scheduled to take place today, presents an opportunity to view this important bilateral relationship from a proper perspective. For too long, U.S.-Egyptian relations have focused, somewhat myopically, on only two things: the state of Egypt's peace with Israel and its progress toward democratization.

Both issues are critical to the Middle East, and for years I have written about the imperatives for a deeper peace and have been critical of the slow pace and the procrastination of Egypt's democratization process. But the two presidents must also focus on the newest threat to the region -- the ubiquity of fragile states that are crumbling under the pressures of demography, resource scarcity and internal strife.

Western analysts understandably have an instinctual suspicion of the all-encompassing power of the "typical" Middle Eastern state. But this view is outdated. The fracturing of state structures has become widespread. Start with the biggest worry -- Pakistan. Its recent efforts to militarily reassert lost state authority over swaths of national territory that had careened out of control have been the subject of discussion, and headlines, around the world. Trouble does not end there. In Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, the cohesion of the state is under assault.

These countries are buckling under the weight of shriveling institutional authority. Laws are not enforced. Economies cannot be regulated. Jobs are not created. Parts of national territory are ceded to non-state actors. Health care, education and basic services don't get delivered. In this context, Egypt stands out. Not only because Egypt is the epicenter of the Arab world; the largest, oldest and most populous Arab country; the first Arab nation to have made peace with Israel; and America's closest ally in the region. Rather, Egypt is increasingly an exception because it is one of the few Middle Eastern countries with strong, evolving institutions able to advance domestic development even while the nation remains the key player for strategic action regionally.

This reality is reflected on two fronts.

First, the Egyptian state has remained stable while accommodating change. The changes are far from sufficient, but society's transformation is indisputable. The monolithic one-party state of a quarter-century is gone. Direct, multicandidate presidential elections have replaced previous presidential referendums. More than 500 newspapers, journals and magazines are published in the country, and Egyptians have access to some 400 Arabic-speaking free-to-air satellite TV channels that compete for news and critical views.

Egypt's reform effort has been especially significant on economic issues. The country was named the top regional reformer in 2009, for the third year in a row, by the World Bank publication Doing Business. Investments have increased significantly, bringing down unemployment from 11.8 percent in 2005 to 8.6 percent last year. Since 2005, the growth rate of Egypt's gross domestic product has outpaced some of the newly industrialized Asian economies. Egypt appears certain to sustain its position as one of the world's rising economies well into the future.

Second, the Egyptian state has kept the peace in a region where everything and everyone seem to push toward war. Its 1979 peace with Israel has held firm and expanded to Jordan, often against difficult odds.

While peace brought criticism from many Arab quarters, Egypt remains the only Arab country all parties look to for strategic consensus and rational thinking. With the region divided among numerous fault lines, Egypt still convenes all groups to dialogue -- the Palestinian factions, Israelis, Sudanese and Iraqis. These parties rarely agree, but all want Egyptian fingers plugging the region's violent dikes. Over decades, Egypt has consolidated its role as the indisputable arbiter of peace.

This only highlights Egypt's centrality as the United States prepares to face the strategic challenges of forging a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace settlement, halting Iran's nuclear program and ensuring Iraq's stability after the U.S. military withdrawal.

Beyond those, the United States and Egypt must contend with the looming prospect of regional state fragmentation.

The Middle East must have a way to deal with the chaos of failed states. Together, the United States and Egypt should seek out a coalition of like-minded regional and international actors to design new mechanisms targeted toward averting collapse in failing nations. Solutions might sometimes be political, and other times they might require financial or managerial intervention. Washington and Cairo must recognize that staving off further state deterioration in the Middle East will require new international and regional solutions and creative statecraft. In this endeavor, Egypt is an ally and an example.

Abdelmonem Said is chairman of the Al-Ahram Establishment in Cairo and a senior fellow at Brandeis University's Crown Center for Middle East Studies.

WASHINGTON – Today, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pressured the U.S. not to accept any “temporary solutions” by Israel in negotiating Middle East peace. During a State Visit at the White House on Tuesday, President Mubarak asked U.S. President Barack Obama to “move to the final status solution” on a Palestinian state.

Mubarak said of Israel: “I told them forget about a temporary solution and forget about temporary borders.” The Egyptian President indicated that the moment for peace is now, saying “we cannot afford to waste more time because violence will increase.”

“The two presidents agreed that time is of essence,” said Presidential Spokesperson Ambassador Soliman Awaad in a press briefing after the White House visit. Referencing a multitude of previous peace plans, Mubarak told Obama more literature on peace was not needed, according to Awaad. President Mubarak asked the U.S. to “declare a plan to achieve peace in the Middle East” and encouraged President Obama not to start from scratch. The Egyptian Spokesperson said a move to final status talks on a Palestinian state will require risks and “courage from all parties.”

During the White House meeting, President Mubarak said that full normalization with Israel will come when there is full peace. According to his spokesperson, President Mubarak indicated to the U.S. President that an Israeli moratorium on settlements, including natural growth, would be a positive step.

Awaad told U.S. and Egyptian media that Egypt is exerting all efforts to strike a deal to swap Israeli and Palestinian prisoners. “This could be part of confidence building measures between Israel and Arab states.”

The two Presidents discussed a wide range of regional issues at today’s meeting, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Somalia. In remarks after the meeting, President Obama thanked Egypt “for being an Arab country that has moved forward to try to strengthen Iraq as it emerges from a wartime footing and a transition to a more stable democracy” and called President Mubarak “a friend of the U.S.” and a “leader in the region.”

President Mubarak said Egypt supports the efforts of the United States to move towards finding a solution for peace in the Middle East and thanked President Obama “for all his efforts with regard to the Palestinian issue.” Mubarak also said President Obama’s address in Cairo in June had “removed all doubts about the United States and the Muslim world.”

In an exclusive interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stressed the need for a holistic and lasting solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He highlighted Egypt’s “laborious efforts” to unify Hamas and Fatah, acknowledging that unity has to occur before there can be peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Defining the borders of a Palestinian state will unlock many of the other issues of a final agreement, Mubarak said, adding that the Israeli government’s recent acceptance of a two-state solution was a positive first step.

“What I can say is that we have to consider the whole issue holistically, to negotiate on the final resolution,” Mubarak said in the interview.

Please click here to watch the entire original interview on Charlie Rose.

Time is Now: Abu Mazen Position Strengthened; Parameters for Peace Well Known

WASHINGTON – In meetings with top U.S. officials today, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called on the U.S. Administration to quickly re-engage in negotiations over the final status of the Israeli-Palestinian issue. President Mubarak met today with Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accompanied by Special Envoy George Mitchell, as well as Jewish groups ahead of Tuesday’s State Visit with U.S. President Barack Obama.

In his meetings today, President Mubarak noted that this month’s Fatah General Congress had significantly strengthened Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazen’s position as a partner for peace. It is now no longer possible to use the divided Palestinian leadership as an excuse for avoiding negotiations, the President told U.S. audiences. Urging U.S. involvement, President Mubarak stressed that the two sides cannot be left to resolve the fundamental issues of a final settlement by themselves.

In an interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose due to air Monday night, President Mubarak also highlighted Egypt’s “laborious efforts” to unify Hamas and Fatah, acknowledging that unity has to occur before there can be peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Defining the borders of a Palestinian state will unlock many of the other issues of a final agreement, Mubarak said today, adding that the Israeli government’s recent acceptance of a two-state solution was a positive first step.

“Instead of saying stopping more settlements and we heard this many times, now for over ten years. And never come to a stop. What I can say is that we have to consider the whole issue holistically, to negotiate on the final resolution,” Mubarak said in the PBS interview.

President Mubarak told Charlie Rose of what he called an “awakening in the Arab region.” In Egypt, these changes have been fueled by economic liberalization under President Mubarak’s leadership. Egypt has seen record GDP growth and falling unemployment rates, from 11.8 percent in 2005 to 8.6 percent in 2008. The media and broadcast sectors have been opened up to private investment; in 2009, Egypt was named the top regional economic reformer for the third year in a row by the World Bank.

The full Charlie Rose interview with President Mubarak can be seen at 11 p.m. ET on Monday, August 17 on PBS.

This week’s State Visit marks the first visit by President Mubarak to the United States since 2004. The two presidents are expected to discuss the Administration’s proposals for Middle East peace, as well as other regional issues such as Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

There will be a briefing for U.S. media immediately following the Tuesday summit. Details follow:

U.S.-Egypt Summit Media Briefing
Ambassador Soliman Awaad, Official Spokesperson for the Presidency
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
12:30 p.m.
Chandelier Room, St. Regis Hotel
923 K St NW
Washington, D.C.
RSVP: info@modernegypt.info

Dr. Abdel Monem Said Aly is Chairman of the Board of the Al Ahram Newspaper and Publishing House and Director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday and thanked him for the country's "security steps taken for the sake of the region and Israel," Army Radio reported.

It came after security around Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Shalom Cohen was tightened following the discovery of a plot to assassinate him.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Uzi Arad headed out to Cairo, with the Prime Minister's Office stressing that his meetings there would have nothing to do with the Gilad Schalit issue.

On Sunday, Palestinian media reported that the captured IDF soldier would be released in a prisoner swap deal by September. 

Please click here to read the article on the Jerusalem Post website.

Minister Abu El-Gheit described the upcoming visit as extremely important particularly in light of the fact that it comes on the heels of a period of distance between Cairo and Washington, adding that there was a desire by both sides to restore these relations to their natural track.

Minister Abu El-Gheit noted that the President Mubarak’s discussions in the Washington would be focused on strengthening bilateral relations, and on regional issues, foremost among which are Palestine, and American efforts to push the peace process between Israel and her Arab neighbors forward, particularly in light of the new American Administration’s desire to cooperate with Egypt on the situation in the region. The Minister added that these discussions would also address the situation in Sudan and Darfur and steps towards the implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement between the North and South, which are challenges that are of mutual concern to Cairo and Washington, as well as on exchanging views on how to deal with the Iranian nuclear file.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit discussed Middle East tensions with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a visit on Wednesday.

The meeting, which played to Brazil's ambition of having a role in helping negotiate peace in the Middle East, took place a week after Lula talked over the same issues with visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who also took part in the discussions, reiterated the view that peace in the Middle East could only be achieved through the creation of an "economically viable" Palestinian state that was not broken up by Israeli control lines.
He also lent Brazil's voice to the international community's consensus that Israel should immediately cease expanding settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.

Abul Gheit hailed Brazil's stance, saying: "Brazil can play a role (in the Middle East peace negotiations) because it has political as well as economic potential."

Brazil plans to extend its Middle East mediating position by receiving Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the next few weeks, followed by Israeli President Shimon Peres in November.

Latin America's biggest economy is seeking the extra clout as part of its longterm ambition to one day join the UN Security Council as a permanent member. 

Please click here to read the article on the Agence France Presse website.

Even before giving his phenomenal speech in Cairo, Egypt, President Barack Obama was already popular in the Arab world’s most populous country. In less than six months in office, Obama was able to overcome eight years of profound distrust and frustration during the Bush administration and dramatically boost America's image in Egypt.

For most Egyptians, Obama -- unlike his predecessor -- is sincere and even-handed, with the potential to bring peace to the region. Most important, Obama is viewed as someone able to make a distinction between Islam and terrorism, which for the majority of Muslims is a huge leap forward.

It is not surprising, then, that a survey released this month by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that positive public attitudes toward the United States have surged in U.S.-allied Egypt and Jordan since Obama took office.

More and more Egyptians view Obama as a “star.” Young Egyptians often comment on his attractive looks, physical fitness and charisma. Elder Egyptians cite specific policies such as Obama's pledge to close the U.S.-run detention facility for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the U.S. timeline for withdrawing troops from Iraq. In total, the Pew study shows confidence that Obama will "do the right thing in world affairs" is quadruple that for Bush in Egypt and Jordan.

However, not surprisingly, the study finds attitudes toward the United States continued to be dismal in many other predominantly Muslim countries. Only 14% of those surveyed in Turkey, 15% in Palestinian Territories and 16% in Pakistan had a favorable view of America.

Undoubtedly, the main reason for this in the Middle East, at least, is that people want to see real progress made in resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestinians. For eight years, they saw negotiations and heard an American President promising to leave a legacy of peace in the region. But no solutions were delivered. It is only natural that people in the region are skeptical.

What is important for both Middle Easterners and Americans to realize is Obama cannot wave a magic wand and quickly deliver results or instantly fix his country’s image in eyes of the Mideast. It is wrong to assume Obama can simply turn on peace like a light bulb or improve America’s image in the region overnight. Nevertheless, the poll has some good news and the Pew’s findings should sit well with the White House. 

Please click here to read the article on the Los Angeles Times website.

US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell called on Arab states on Monday to fully normalise ties with Israel, after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the latest leg of a regional tour.

Mitchell told reporters after the talks that Washington was asking countries in the region to set the "context" for comprehensive peace negotiations between Israel and the Arab world.

"By comprehensive I mean peace between Israel and Palestinians, between Israel and Syria, between Israel and Lebanon and the full normalisation of relations between Israel and the countries of the region," he said.

"We're not asking anyone to achieve full normalisation at this time, we recognise that will come further down the road in this process," he said.

But he added that the US administration wanted to see "meaningful steps by individual countries."

Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel, but neither have fully normalised ties. Some other Arab countries, such as Qatar, have trade relations with Israel.

After the Mubarak meeting, Mitchell headed to the occupied West Bank where he is to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. On Tuesday he will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, likely to focus on US demands that Israel halt settlement activity in the West Bank.

On Sunday, he met Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Olmert in Tel Aviv. 

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Voice of America

Special U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell is in Egypt as part of a push to resume Arab-Israeli peace talks.

George Mitchell looked tired but sounded upbeat, on the latest lap of his shuttle mission that has brought him from Syria and Israel to Egypt.

The visit was his fifth to Cairo and the second in just more than a month and a half. One Egyptian analyst quipped Senator Mitchell is starting to become "a household name in Egypt and the Arab world."

Egyptian TV showed the envoy meeting with President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abou Gheit, reporting that he briefed them about his weekend talks with Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

After the meetings, Mitchell told journalists it is imperative to achieve a full and comprehensive peace in the region to improve the lives of everyone

"We believe that a full comprehensive peace represents the best way to help all of the people of the region achieve the security, the peace, and the prospect for prosperity for individual citizens that all deserve," Mitchell said.

The former senator said he has taken his plea for normalization in relations with Israel to various Arab leaders during his travels across the region.

"We are also meeting with the leaders of many of the Arab nations of the region to encourage them to take genuine steps toward normalization," he said. "We are not asking anyone to achieve full normalization at this time, we recognize that that will come further down the road in this process."

Egypt has had full diplomatic relations with Israel since the 1979 Camp David peace accords were signed by former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. But Israelis often complain that it is a "cold peace."

The Arab daily al Hayat headlined that Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Mitchell, over the weekend, that "Arab rights and the return of the Golan Heights," were at the top of his agenda.

An Arab summit, earlier this year, called for Israel to accept a 2002 Arab peace plan, which calls for "full normalization, in exchange for the return of occupied lands."

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Yossi Gal, the director of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday arrived in Cairo at the head of an Israeli diplomatic delegation.

Gal would meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and other senior Egyptian diplomats over the course of his afternoon visit, the Israeli Embassy in Cairo said.

'The visit, which aims to promote relations between Egypt and Israel, is part of the regular contact maintained by the two states,' Israeli Embassy spokeswoman Shani Cooper-Zubida said.

Gal's visit comes amid a US diplomatic blitz to restart negotiations for a 'comprehensive' Middle East peace.

George Mitchell, US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the region, met with Abul Gheit and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak on Monday morning, and left Cairo shortly before Gal arrived.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was in Israel Monday, and is to continue on to Jordan. National Security Advisor James Jones and administration official Dennis Ross were also expected in the coming days.

A Middle East peace deal remains one of Obama's 'top priorities,' Mitchell told reporters in Cairo.

'We believe that a full, comprehensive peace presents the best way for all the people of the region to achieve the security, peace and prosperity all its citizens deserve,' he said, and urged a 'prompt' return to 'successful negotiations.'

Mitchell arrived in Cairo on Sunday night, in an unscheduled stop after meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv.

Speaking from Cairo Monday, he again called on Middle Eastern countries to normalize their relations with Israel.

Mitchell said he would be meeting with leaders in the region 'to encourage them to take meaningful steps toward normalization.'
But, he noted, 'We don't expect anyone to take steps toward full normalization at this time; we expect this will come further down the road in this process.'

He said his efforts were now focused on preparing 'the context' for meaningful negotiations soon, based on 'mutual respect and mutual interests.'

Please click here to read the article on the Monsters & Critics website.

Ministers from the 10 African countries on the Nile river began crucial discussions Monday over drafting a new water sharing agreement, which is hampered by Egypt's refusal to reduce its share of world's longest river.

In an opening address to the Nile Basin Initiative, held in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif urged for a "return of the cooperation and harmony" among the group's members, describing the ongoing dispute as a "misunderstanding."

In the two-day meeting, participants are hoping to conclude the Nile Cooperative Framework Agreement, which establishes a permanent body to oversee water allocation along the Nile.

During talks last month in Kinshasa, Congo, officials from the 10 countries of the Nile basin, failed to agree over a new system of water sharing desired by a majority of the members.

A 1929 agreement between Egypt and Britain, acting on behalf of its then east African colonies, set up the original sharing framework and gave Cairo the right to veto upstream projects.

In a 1959 agreement with Sudan, Egypt was awarded an annual 55.5 billion cubic meters of Nile water, the largest share of any country along the river.

The remaining eight riparian states resent Egypt's quota and want to draft a new agreement.

Egyptian Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohammed Nasreddin Allam has repeatedly said that his country will not accept any change to its quota.

Egypt's cabinet issued a report last week that the country needed 86.2 billion cubic meters of water in 2017 and only has resources of 71.4 billion cubic meters.

A country of vast deserts, only around 6 percent of Egypt is arable, almost entirely due to the Nile.

Egypt's water resources stood at 64 billion cubic meters in 2006, of which the River Nile provided or 86.7 percent, the report said. By 2017 the Nile is expected to supply only 80.5 percent of Egypt's resources.

Due to the absence of any major dams or hydroelectric projects upstream of it, experts say Egypt can afford to be dismissive of the other states' concerns since there is little they can do to impede the Nile's flow.

Talks in Kinshasa ended with Egypt refusing to ratify the new pact without the other signatories explicitly agreeing to its original share of Nile water and a veto for Cairo over any future upstream projects. 

The other Nile basin countries are Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Burundi. 

Please click here to read the article on the San Francisco Chronicle website.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday called on the Arab world to engage with Israel and praised the opportunity afforded by the Arab initiative for regional peace.

"I believe that this spirit can help create an atmosphere in which a comprehensive peace is possible," Netanyahu said in a reception at the residence of Egyptian Ambassador Yasser Reda in Herzliya.

"We appreciate the efforts by Arab states to advance the peace initiative," the prime minister said, adding that "If these proposals are not final, they can create an atmosphere in which a comprehensive peace can be reached."

Netanyahu said that he nevertheless hoped to "forge peace with the Palestinians" in the coming months and years "and to expand that into a vision of a broader regional peace."

The prime minister extolled the leadership of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, saying, "We appreciate (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak's efforts to ward off the radical forces and push towards peace. Egypt is our cornerstone for peace with our neighbors."

He qualified his positive remarks regarding Cairo to a certain degree, however, when he added that the two countries were still far from a "very warm" peace.

Netanyahu also praised Bahraini Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa for a Washington Postop-ed in which he said that the Arab world had "not done enough to communicate directly with the people of Israel."

The Arab Peace Initiative was presented by Saudi King Abdullah in 2002. It calls for normalizing relations between Arab states and Israel in exchange for a total Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 armistice lines and a "just solution" to the Palestinian demand for the return of refugees from the War of Independence.

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Omar Suleiman, the director of Egypt’s general intelligence service and a possible successor to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, has been named the most powerful intelligence chief in the Middle East by Foreign Policy Magazine. 

It is widely believed the president is grooming his son, Gamal Mubarak, to succeed him, but Suleiman is very popular and may have the backing of factions within the military.

Some Egyptian analysts see his popularity as a staged buffer to help Gamal succeed his father in a smooth transition, while others see him as one of various powerful contenders for the presidency.

Dalia Ziada, an Egyptian liberal activist and blogger, said that were Suleiman to run in the next presidential election she did not believe he would have a good chance of winning.

“Maybe the ruling National Democratic Party will support him,” she told The Media Line, “but at the end of the day, he’s a national security man, he’s not a politician. He’s not good in dealing with internal and external politics.”

Ziada predicted the Egyptian government would use Suleiman as a mediator, putting him in power straight after Mubarak so that it will not look as though Mubarak were passing on the throne to his son.

Suleiman’s apparent popularity was highlighted in a recent survey Ziada carried out independently on her blog, in which she asked participants to rank their choice for the next president.

In the first phase of the survey, she provided the participants with six candidates, and asked that they propose other candidates if they were not satisfied with the selection.

Many wrote back asking her to add Suleiman into the mix, she said.

In the second phase of the survey, however, Suleiman only garnered four percent of the 3,000 votes received.

Ziada argued that Suleiman’s popularity was to a large degree confined and would not lead him to presidency.

“He’s popular, because he’s leading a very critical authority in Egypt, which is the Mukhabarat [intelligence service],” Ziada said. “Anyone in his position must be respected by Egyptians, but it does not mean they’ll select him when it comes to their future.”

Suleiman, 74, became director of the country’s intelligence service in 1993 after an extensive military career, and is said to be one of a very small circle of people in whom Mubarak trusts.

Suleiman has helped Mubarak clamp down on Islamist opponents and the intelligence chief’s combating of Islamist terrorists increased his standing in the eyes of Western intelligence services after 9/11.

More recently, Suleiman has been serving as a high-ranking diplomat and has been the main mediator in the indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas.

He is also Cairo’s main interlocutor for several Palestinian groups engaged in reconciliation talks.

Mubarak has been president for the past 28 years and there is wide speculation that the 81-year-old leader will not be seeking another term in office. Some believe the President may even step down before the end of the his current tenure, set to come to an end with presidential elections slated for 2011.

Analysts say that even if Suleiman does not succeed Mubarak, he is still likely to maintain a powerful role in the regional scene.

Hala Mustafa, editor in chief of the Democracy Review, a political quarterly published by the Al-Ahram Institute, said it was very difficult to measure anyone’s popularity in Egypt outside of the ballot box.

“But I can say [Suleiman] is respected among the elite and among the ruling party and ruling elite in general,” she told The Media Line.

Rather than have Suleiman and Gamal Mubarak run against each other, she said it was more likely that Gamal would be groomed for the presidency and Suleiman for the vice presidency.

If Suleiman wishes to run for president he would have to resign from his position as intelligence chief and run either as an independent or as a candidate of the ruling party, Mustafa said.

The Foreign Policy Magazine report, authored by U.S. Department of Defense employee Patrick Devenny, places Suleiman at the head of a list of five other “spooks” who include Israel’s Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, head of the Iranian Quds Force Qassem Suleimani, the Syrian military’s deputy chief of staff Assef Shawkat and Saudi Prince Muqrin Bin ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz, the director general of the Kingdom’s General Intelligence Presidency.

Please click here to read the article on the Israel National News website.

Egypt's UAE investments increased to $3.9 billion by the end of April, a 34.5 percent increase over the previous year, according to Abdel Rahman A. Raouf, Commercial Counselor at the Egyptian Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The Counselor commented that there are still significant opportunities to increase the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and the UAE.

"Trade exchange between Egypt and the UAE increased threefold in 2007 and 2008, as it rose from $390 million in 2007 to $1.4 billion in 2008. We noticed in 2008 and the beginning of 2009 there is a big increase in exports and imports between the two countries and this is a result of the development of political relations," Counselor Raouf said.

The Counselor added, "Official statistics show foreign direct investments (FDI) in Egypt rose from $354.6 million in 2000 to $13.2 billion in 2008. The FDI in oil sector totaled $4.1 billion, while they arrived at $9.1 billion in non-oil sectors."

Egypt is an attractive investment for other countries and, based on the depth of its domestic economy, has enormous growth potential. In addition, it is close in proximity to key markets such as Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa and the Gulf states.

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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday arrived for talks in Paris to revive the Mediterranean Union initiative and the Middle East peace process, the foreign ministry said.

Mubarak who was to see his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy over lunch on Tuesday, held talks with Prime Minister Francois Fillon at his Paris hotel after arriving in the afternoon, Fillon's office said.

Fillon did not give details about the talks which lasted 45 minutes.
No statements were expected Tuesday after Mubarak's meeting with Sarkozy.

The French foreign ministry said the visit was "taking place within the normal framework of bilateral relations".

Mubarak and Sarkozy are expected to discuss "regional issues, the Middle East peace process and to assess the relaunch of the Mediterranean Union as well as the [G8] summit" earlier this month, the ministry said.

At the July 8-10 summit Mubarak had urged the leaders of the world's richest countries to freeze repayments due on loans to Africa in order to help the poorest through the economic crisis.

The Egyptian leader addressed a working meeting between the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States and eight African leaders on the closing day of the G8 summit in Italy.

Launched at a summit in Paris a year ago, the Mediterranean Union brings together EU members with states from north Africa, the Balkans, the Arab world and Israel in a bid to foster cooperation in one of the world's most volatile regions.

But like its regional predecessor, the Barcelona Process which stalled in large part over Arab-Israeli disputes, the Mediterranean Union got bogged down by Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas missile strikes.

The initiative, championed by Sarkozy, resumed last month when environment ministers, including representatives from Israel and the Palestinian territories, met in Paris.

The union's priorities are to fight pollution in the Mediterranean, increase solar energy use, build land and sea highways and cooperate on higher education and research.

They are to be achieved by joint projects, which it is hoped would also help improve regional integration.

Please click here to read the article on Agence France Presse.

"Egyptian officials decided that some issues required further discussion and efforts. The date for the last round of talks, July 25, does not leave enough time to resolve the differences," MENA quotes Palestinian officials as saying.

"So it was agreed to delay the talks until August 25," the officials said.

The rival Palestinian factions resumed reconciliation talks in February and had agreed to begin what they said would be a final round on Saturday.

Cairo has been mediating the talks between president Mahmud Abbas's secular Fatah party and the Islamists of Hamas aimed at healing bitter divisions between the two, aggravated when Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.

Hamas and Fatah delegations have been meeting in Cairo over the last two days to discuss the talks' progress.

The talks hope to seal a deal which will lay out a new electoral law as well as define the make-up of security forces and of a committee to liaise between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank ahead of an election in 2010.

Hamas has demanded that Abbas's Palestinian Authority release all "political prisoners" -- referring to the scores of Hamas members arrested in the Israeli-occupied West Bank -- or provide a timetable for their release.

Both sides have since announced the release of dozens of prisoners.

Fatah and Hamas have accused each other of persecuting their rival's supporters in the territories under their control, while human rights groups have accused both groups of making arbitrary arrests and mistreating detainees.

The two groups deny they make political arrests, saying the arrests are made on security grounds.

In an effort to secure peace in Darfur, President Hosni Mubarak hosts talks with the Sudanese government and rebel groups.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak recently held talks with the President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir. The meeting is part of efforts by Egypt to encourage negotiations between the Sudanese government and rebel groups. Egyptian officials had previously met with leaders of six guerrilla groups.

Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, leader of the United Resistance Front, one of the rebel groups attending the talks, said Egypt would "play a very important" unifying role in the coming days.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said his country had a strategic interest in helping to secure peace in Darfur.

"There may be friendly countries or the United Nations or regional countries which have interests and try to achieve peace and stability in Darfur, and this is something we support and push for...but Egypt has shared borders with Sudan," he said.

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A summit of the Non-Aligned Movement opened at this Egyptian Red Sea resort town Wednesday with a call from Cuban President Raul Castro for a new international financial system to shield developing nations from the global recession.

Castro was addressing the opening session of the movement's two-day summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, the 15th such gathering since the group was founded in the 1950s.

"We demand the establishment of a new international financial and economic structure that relies on the participation of all countries," Castro said. "There must be a new framework that doesn't depend solely on the economic stability and the political decision of only one country," the Cuban leader said, apparently referring to the United States.

The new system, he said, must give developing countries "preferential treatment." He did not elaborate.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also touched on the global economic crisis when he addressed the summit, echoing Castro's demand that more must be done to protect the economies of developing nations and give them a bigger say.

"The economic crisis has revealed the need to improve the international financial architecture, so we may see the developing world and emerging powers gain more of a say in that realm," he said. "That would be a welcome step toward realizing the NAM's (Non-Aligned Movement's) long-standing goal of making the international system more fair and balanced."

Castro later handed the movement's presidency over to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose country will head the group for the next three years. Egypt, India and the former Yugoslavia are the movement's founding members.

The 118-nation Non-Aligned Movement was born during the Cold War more than five decades ago as a group of countries that is neither allied with the U.S.-led camp or the Soviet bloc. A middle course, they argued then, was in their best interest.

However, the movement has lost much of its relevance when the Cold War ended nearly two decades ago. Made up mostly of African, Asian and Latin American nations, it has since become primarily an international speaking forum for developing nations.

Mubarak, in his address, recognized the "challenge" facing the movement's founding principles, which he said seek dialogue with the developed world. He also joined Castro in calling for the rehabilitation of the international financial system. Terrorism, nuclear weapons and the Palestinian issue are among issues requiring collective action, he said.

Castro's call for a new world financial system follows a similar demand by foreign ministers and senior officials from the movement who warned after four days of meetings here that the global financial crisis will adversely affect their developing nations the most. Joint action, they said, was needed to ward off its impact.

The summit's draft declaration also calls for the group to coordinate with China - attending the summit as an observer - to have their voices heard at international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The focus on the world economy coincides with U.S. efforts to build what it says is a stronger financial foundation for the world.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, the second and final day of a tour of Gulf Arab nations. He met Tuesday with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and businessmen in the oil-rich kingdom and had a closed-door breakfast meeting Wednesday with the Emirates' Foreign Trade Minister Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi and other UAE officials.

"We of course want to not just address the immediate causes of the financial crisis," Geithner said after Wednesday's meeting. "We want to rebuild a stronger foundation for more balanced growth globally."

The prime ministers of nuclear powers Pakistan and India, meanwhile, were expected to meet on the sidelines of the summit in what would be one of the conference's highlights. The two leaders met in Russia last month for the first time since the Mumbai terror attacks last year, but they made little headway in defusing the tension in their relations.

India blamed Pakistan-trained militants for the attacks, which killed 166 people.

The two countries' foreign secretaries met for 90 minutes on the sidelines of the Sharm el-Sheik's meeting Tuesday night, apparently to prepare for Wednesday's meeting of the two prime ministers, according to a diplomat familiar with the meeting but who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Mr Abdel Wahab already has E£25m ($4.5m) of equity in the business, and an established record exporting pads to Europe, but even so, lenders have been balking.

“Last year it would have been easier,” says Mr Abdel Wahab. “I have not failed yet. There are promising negotiations with a bank. But it has not been easy.”

Raising funds for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt has always been difficult but Mr Abdel Wahab, who also heads the Engineering Exports Council, says the financial crisis has made banks even more cautious.

SMEs make up the majority of the industrial private sector in Egypt, says Adham Nadim, executive director of the government’s Industrial Modernisation Centre.

The centre deals with 12,400 companies that account for more than 95 per cent of Egyptian manufacturers, says Mr Nadim. Most of these are small businesses, of which only 13 per cent employ more than 200 workers.

Mr Nadim says that times are harder for the sector but most entrepreneurs are still managing to hang on and “that there is no huge trend to let workers go”.

The Egyptian economy grew by 4.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, up from 4.1 per cent in the previous quarter.
Analysts, however, caution that this rate may not be sustainable given the weakness of external demand. In the preceding three years growth averaged 7 per cent.

Mr Nadim says securing funding for SMEs has become more difficult in spite of the healthy state of Egyptian banking, with a high deposit-to-loans ratio.

“Access to finance is disastrous because you have a lot of people who don’t want to take a bold decision in the banking sector,” says Mr Nadim, whose organisation is negotiating with 17 banks to improve access to credit.

He also says that increased government borrowing may have depressed banks’ appetite for lending to SMEs, especially in an atmosphere of enhanced sensitivity to risk.

“Treasury bills are in direct competition with the private sector,” he says. “Why would a credit officer lend to the private sector when he can just give the money to the government and wait for it to come back.”

In the case of Mr Abdel Wahab, the brake-pad manufacturer, the problems of the automotive industry both internationally and domestically have made bankers wary.

But he argues that in Egypt the psychological effect of the crisis has often been greater than its real impact. Many people, he says, who can afford to buy cars, have held back expecting prices to drop, while lenders have scaled down their car loans, which has also affected the market.

“We saw in the earlier part of the year a drop in demand for cars by 50 to 60 per cent,” he says. “But we didn’t really see anything to justify it.

“Now we are seeing more activity in the car market. In other areas, such as white goods, demand is also starting to increase. Companies are not complaining as they used to.”

Nihal Badawi, the head of SME banking at Commercial International Bank, the country’s biggest bank by market capitalisation, says that SMEs, especially those that do not rely on exports, have been in a better position to cope with the crisis than bigger export-dependent companies.

All the same, she says the crisis has meant the bank has revised its risk management practices by, for instance, limiting exposure to certain sectors.

“For example there are industry limits, reviews to certain exposures and we also ensure full compliance with Central Bank of Egypt standards,” she says.

However, she denies that banks are reluctant to lend. The problem, she says, is that such companies often fail to keep orderly books or they “don’t have the proper structure, so the owner may be running everything. Sometimes they might not even have a business plan. To be bankable we need to educate them.”

Banks, too, she says, are still building up capacity to deal with SMEs and understand the risks involved.

Restrictions on funding have not been the only impact of the financial crisis on SMEs. The contraction in export markets coupled with what Egyptian industrialists allege is dumping by Asian companies has also led to a tougher business environment.

“Egypt is a target for dumping because it has not been so affected by the crisis,” says Mr Nadim.

“Everything is being shipped over here. Access to credit locally is very harsh, so when someone offers an importer a product with a four-year interest free loan and nothing to pay in the first 12 months, in my book this is dumping.” 

Please click here to read the story on the Financial Times website.
 

Egypt will play host to the 15th Non-Aligned Movement Summit on July 15-16th and the two prime ministers are scheduled to meet beforehand.

An AFP article cited the reasons for the meeting as being an effort to achieve a normalcy of relations between the two countries; peace talks between the two countries have been suspended since the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.

To read the full text of the CNN article, please click here.

To read the full text of the AFP article, please click here.

The two presidents will discuss the latest developments in the Middle East peace process and the issue of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was seized by Gaza Strip militants three years ago, it said in a statement.

Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement have been holding indirect talks via Egypt on a prisoner exchange that would see Shalit freed in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails.

Egypt is Israel's most important Arab ally and the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state.

A marked economic slowdown in the global economy and rising fuel and food prices combined to make the world a "slightly less peaceful place" according to the latest Global Peace Index.

Countries registering the biggest improvement in their levels of peace were Bosnia-Herzegovina, Angola, Congo Brazzaville, Egypt, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Not surprisingly, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel and Sudan made up the bottom rankings, as they are the most affected by military conflict, civil war, and threat of attack.

To read the complete text of the article, please click here.

To view Global Peace Index Rankings, please click here.

Washington Times reporter Mark Kellner met with the Minister last week to discuss the Google deal, Egypt as an ICT hub in the Middle East, and internet freedom and governance issues.

During the interview, the Minister told the Times, "our (Egypt's) policy line has been always trying to keep the Internet open, trying to keep it as a platform really for development, socioeconomic development, open as much as we can."

"We try, on a regional level within the councils that we are a member [of], whether it is the African Council of Ministers ICT or the Arab Council of Ministers or ICT, to deliver the message to keep the Internet as open as we can, and as much as we can," he added.

Egypt is due to host the Internet Governance Forum in November at Sharm el Sheikh.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Washington Times reporter Mark Kellner met with the Minister last week to discuss the Google deal, Egypt as an ICT hub in the Middle East, and internet freedom and governance issues.

During the interview, the Minister told the Times, "our (Egypt's) policy line has been always trying to keep the Internet open, trying to keep it as a platform really for development, socioeconomic development, open as much as we can."

"We try, on a regional level within the councils that we are a member [of], whether it is the African Council of Ministers ICT or the Arab Council of Ministers or ICT, to deliver the message to keep the Internet as open as we can, and as much as we can," he added.

Egypt is due to host the Internet Governance Forum in November at Sharm el Sheikh.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

The outlines of the settlement are obvious.

President Barack Obama's seminal address in Cairo marked a turning point in America's relations with the Muslim world. His message was clear and incontrovertible: It is issues of politics and policy, not a clash of values, that separate the Muslim world and America. It is the resolution of these issues that will heal the divide.

The ambitious agenda outlined by President Obama must now be followed by forward-looking steps in order to chart a new course in America's relationship with the Arab and Muslim world. I look forward to working with the president to achieve that objective.

For decades, the Arab world has been engaged in a process of intense soul-searching as to how to cope with the forces of change in its midst, including the rising expectations of a rapidly growing younger generation, the destabilizing escalation of regional conflicts, and the swelling tide of radicalism and extremism.

Egypt has long been at the forefront of confronting these challenges, whether in being the first to extend our hand for peace with Israel, addressing the dangers posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, or confronting the threat of terrorism through the moderation and tolerance at the heart of our religious heritage. Through these challenges and beyond, Egypt has engaged in a process of reform that is succeeding in providing greater opportunities for our youth, more empowerment for women, as well as greater pluralism and internal debate. We openly acknowledge that this process still has a way to go in fulfilling our aspirations.

The time has come to renew our commitment to address these many challenges. Among the host of challenges before us, it is the Palestinian issue that requires the greatest urgency, given the precarious state of the peace process after years of stalemate. President Obama has shown a willingness to lead to achieve peace in the Middle East; the Arab world must reciprocate with forthright leadership of its own.

Despite the setbacks of the last few years, it is important to remember that many of the elements of a solution have already been negotiated. After nearly two decades of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations since the initiation of the Oslo peace process, many of the details of a final settlement are well known. Furthermore, the Arab Peace Initiative, adopted at the Beirut summit of 2002, provides a regional framework for such a settlement. For the first time in the history of the conflict, the Arab states unanimously committed to full normalization and security for Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal to the 1967 lines and a negotiated resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue.

The road to a final settlement will now require leadership and concerted effort from all sides. Over the last few years, Egypt has worked exhaustively to unite the Palestinian leadership in a manner that upholds their commitment to a negotiated two-state solution. Egypt has also tried to broker a durable cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, in parallel with our mediation on a prisoner exchange. During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Egypt last month I renewed our commitment to resume these efforts.

These steps must now be joined with a serious process to negotiate a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The priority should be to resolve the permanent borders of a sovereign and territorially contiguous Palestinian state, based on the 1967 lines, as this would unlock most of the other permanent status issues, including settlements, security, water and Jerusalem.

Success of these negotiations will depend on firm commitments from both sides to uphold the credibility of the process. Israel's relentless settlement expansion, which has seriously eroded the prospects for a two-state solution, must cease, together with its closure of Gaza. For their part, the Palestinians must continue to develop their institutional capacity while overcoming their division to achieve their aspirations for statehood.

While full normalization with Israel can only result from a comprehensive settlement including the Syrian, Lebanese as well as Palestinian track, the Arab side stands ready to reciprocate serious steps towards peace undertaken by Israel.

A historic settlement is within reach, one that would give the Palestinians their state and freedom from occupation while granting Israel recognition and security to live in peace. With President Obama's reassertion of U.S. leadership in the region, a rare moment of opportunity presents itself. Egypt stands ready to seize that moment, and I am confident that the Arab world will do the same.

Mr. Mubarak is president of Egypt.

President Barack Obama's seminal address in Cairo marked a turning point in America's relations with the Muslim world. His message was clear and incontrovertible: It is issues of politics and policy, not a clash of values, that separate the Muslim world and America. It is the resolution of these issues that will heal the divide. Click here to read more

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak outlined his vision for peace in the Middle East and a settlement between Israelis and Palestinians in an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal.

"A historic settlement is within reach, one that would give the Palestinians their state and freedom from occupation while granting Israel recognition and security to live in peace. With President Obama's reassertion of U.S. leadership in the region, a rare moment of opportunity presents itself. Egypt stands ready to seize that moment, and I am confident that the Arab world will do the same." wrote Mubarak.

To read the full text of the op-ed, please click here.

To read coverage of the op-ed from Reuters, please click here.

CAIRO - Egypt's parliament has passed a law allocating a quota of 64 seats in the lower house to women, in what a minister said on Monday was aimed at promoting their role in society.

The new law adopted on Sunday will give women more than 12 percent of the seats in an expanded parliament after the next election in 2010, Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mufid Shehab said.

It raises the total number of seats in the People's Assembly from 454 - including 10 appointed by the president - to 518. Nine women were elected to parliament in the last election in 2005.

Parliament speaker Fathi Sorour described the law's approval as "an historic event" for Egyptian women.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Cairo, Egypt - It looks like there may be more women in the stuffy chambers of the Egyptian parliament. A new election law is set to include an additional 56 seats, all of which will be allocated to female candidates, according to Gamal Mubarak, the son of President Hosni Mubarak and a key figure in the ruling National Democratic Party.

In its convention this week, the NDP's policies committee agreed on a proposal to increase the number of seats in the People's Assembly to 510 from 454 during the next elections. Mubarak confirmed that the new elections law amendments should guarantee that at least 11 percent of the new parliament members will be women.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Egypt's 11 percent female representation in the legislature is not far behind the United States, where women make up 17 percent of the U.S. Congress. Conversely, Egypt is ahead of its neighbors: women make up 8 percent of Kuwait's parliament and women hold 2 percent of parliamentary seats in Lebanon.

CAIRO, June 9 (Reuters) - Egypt's intelligence chief held talks with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on Tuesday aimed at containing a crisis after West Bank raids by Western-backed Palestinian security forces on Hamas targets sparked clashes.

Damascus-based Meshaal's visit to Cairo is his first in many months, and the talks come two days after Egyptian officials met leaders from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group, which launched last week's raids that killed nine people in ensuing violence in the West Bank city of Qalqilya.

Egyptian officials met with Ahmed Qurei on Sunday, who leads Fatah negotiators in Cairo-sponsored reconciliation talks, to find ways to sustain talks and end clashes, arrests and counter-arrests by forces loyal to Fatah and Hamas.

Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nono said Tuesday's talks would focus on the repercussions of last week's raids and hoped Egypt would help "compel the Palestinian Authority to stop the assaults against our people in the West Bank".

Egyptian mediators stepped up pressure on the groups to form a unity government by setting a July 7 deadline to bridge divisions. That would prepare the ground for a gradual restoration of unity and allow holding presidential and parliamentary election in January 2010.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

On June 2, 2009, President Obama gave his first interview to the BBC, and spoke to North America Correspondent Justin Webb about the Middle East. The interview took place two days before President Obama gave an historic address to the Muslim World from Cairo, Egypt. In the interview, President Obama was asked for his opinion of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Justin Webb: Do you regard President Mubarak as an authoritarian ruler?

President Obama: No, I tend not to use labels for folks. I haven't met him. I've spoken to him on the phone.

He has been a stalwart ally in many respects, to the United States. He has sustained peace with Israel, which is a very difficult thing to do in that region.

But he has never resorted to, you know, unnecessary demagoging of the issue, and has tried to maintain that relationship. So I think he has been a force for stability. And good in the region.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Mr. Mubarak commented on the U.S. role in the Middle East and President Obama's trip to the Middle East, "If you really want to address the real issue in the region, if you are to re-establish U.S. leadership in that very important part of the world, this is the beginning and the start of a message of respect, a message of understanding, a message of reaching out... this is a sign of strength."

Mr. Mubarak currently holds the position of Deputy Secretary General of the National Democratic Party (NDP) of Egypt, which holds a large majority of seats in the Egyptian parliament. He also heads the party's policies-setting committee within the NDP.

Please click here for video of the interview

Egyptian Prime Minister Doctor Ahmed Nazif was interviewed by CBS News Correspondent Lara Logan; the interview aired on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric Wednesday evening, June 3.

Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif told Lara Logan that the speech came at a critical time. "Time is working against us," Nazif said. "I think time is of the essence - we need to work fast and this is the message we've been getting from the administration...and I think it's very important that it would happen in the first year of this administration."

The Prime Minister was primarily talking about ending violence between Israelis and Palestinians, "The Israeli-Palestinian issue is the core - you solve this problem and you'll find that many other issues have to fall in line," Nazif said.

Prime Minister Nazif, the second youngest prime minister in the history of modern Egypt, has led a team of technocrats which has successfully modernized Egypt's economy, reduced inflation and produced a number of significant constitutional reforms. He is also known for his expertise in information technology (IT) and telecommunications.

Egyptian Prime Minister Doctor Ahmed Nazif was interviewed by CBS News Correspondent Lara Logan. The interview aired on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric Wednesday evening, June 3 in advance of U.S. President Barack Obama's address to the Muslim World.

In the interview with Ms. Logan, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said that the speech came at a critical time:

"Time is working against us," Nazif said. "I think time is of the essence - we need to work fast and this is the message we've been getting from the administration... I think it's very important that it would happen in the first year of this administration." He continued, "The Israeli-Palestinian issue is the core - you solve this problem and you'll find that many other issues have to fall in line."

Prime Minister Nazif, the second youngest prime minister in the history of modern Egypt, has led a team of technocrats which has successfully modernized Egypt's economy, reduced inflation and produced a number of significant constitutional reforms. He is also known for his expertise in information technology (IT) and telecommunications.

For more on the interview, please click here.

Mr. Gamal Mubarak, son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, was interviewed by ABC Co-Anchor Christopher Cuomo. The interview aired this morning on ABC's Good Morning America immediately following President Obama's address to the Muslim World.

Mr. Mubarak commented on the U.S. role in the Middle East and President Obama's trip to the Middle East:

"If you really want to address the real issue in the region, if you are to re-establish U.S. leadership in that very important part of the world, this is the beginning and the start of a message of respect, a message of understanding, a message of reaching out... this is a sign of strength."

Mr. Mubarak currently holds the position of Deputy Secretary General of the National Democratic Party (NDP) of Egypt, which holds a large majority of seats in the Egyptian parliament. He also heads the party's policies-setting committee within the NDP.

Please click here for video of the interview.

The Islamic Research Council (IRS) is one of the premier Islamic authorities that primarily speaks in the name of Al-Azhar, the most respected and influential Sunni institution in the Muslim world. IRC is a compendium of 50 senior Muslim Scholars from various Muslim countries headed by the Grand Imam Sheikh Mohammad Syed Tantawi.

Cairo, Egypt - On the occasion of President Barack Obama's historic visit to Egypt and his speech to the Muslim World which he gave today at Cairo University, the Members of the Islamic Research Council (IRC) welcome President Obama's visit as a clear gesture of goodwill and respect.

This gesture is particularly welcome given the fact that President Obama chose Egypt as the venue of his speech to the Muslim World, in recognition of its rich legacy and profound influence on the Islamic World, by virtue of it taking place at Al-Azhar - the seat of the most respected and influential Sunni institution of Islamic scholarship and education in the world.

The Members of the IRC view President Obama's speech as indicative of a promising new era in relations between America and the Arab and the Muslim worlds, and that paves the way for real dialogue among civilizations, rather than conflict, which some may want us to believe is unavoidable.

The Members commend President Obama for his deep appreciation for the Islamic faith and the contributions of Islamic civilization over the centuries in shaping the world for the better, and for his assertion that America seeks greater engagement and a true partnership with the Muslim world based upon mutual respect.

The Members wish to assert that they share with President Obama the goal of a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the Middle East, particularly between Palestine and Israel. The IRC strongly calls upon him to make progress towards achieving such a peace in the region. They also welcome his initiative to end the occupation of Iraq and withdraw U.S. forces. The Members stress that a similar initiative should be made in Afghanistan.

The Members assure the American people that the concerns of most Muslims are identical to those of most Americans, and that they have a common desire to lead a peaceful and dignified life. Both Muslims and Americans face a common threat posed by extremism and terrorism, which people of all religions reject.

The IRC Members affirm that throughout its long history, Al-Azhar has provided equal educational opportunities for men and women, and has been devoted to spreading a balanced vision of Islam based on the various recognized Schools of Islamic law and orthodox theology infused with spiritual depth.

Students at Al-Azhar have been taught not only how to master grammar, logic, and law, but also have been given instruction in Islamic ethics and spirituality, qualities which are considered integral parts of effective religious leadership, and development of a culture of dialogue and tolerance. Combined with an understanding of contemporary issues, this holistic approach to religious education continues to draw students from all over the world to study at Al-Azhar. These students return to their countries not only with knowledge, but with the example of a balanced religiosity that, while remaining true to its principles, is able to address the needs of Muslim society in a changing world.

Al-Azhar has long been active in reaching out to other religious communities, both within the Islamic world, and at the international level. This spirit of dialogue can be found in the statements and fatwas of Al-Azhar's Sheikhs, as well as in the activities of its scholars.

The Members of the IRC affirm that there is a great and vast field in which both the Muslim world and the United States can act together, including rejecting terror; defending and promoting the moral values of compassion and justice; spreading goodwill and bridging misunderstandings; and overcoming misconceptions and stereotypes among all peoples of the world.

The Members recognize the necessity of translating these shared commitments into tangible deeds and programs to achieve these noble goals.

H.E. Dr. Mohamed El-Sayed El-Tantawy
Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar
President of the Islamic Research Council

About the Islamic Research Council (IRC)

Islamic Research Council (IRS) is one of the premier Islamic authorities in the Muslim world that primarily speaks in the name of Al-Azhar, the most respected and influential Sunni institution in the Muslim world and the most sought out seminary for Islamic instruction.

IRC is a compendium of 50 senior Muslim Scholars from various Muslim countries headed by the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Sheikh Mohammad Syed Tantawi. Other notable member Scholars include: Dr Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzoq, the Minister of Endowment and Islamic affairs; Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt; and Dr Ahmad El Tayyib, the Rector of Al Azhar University.

IRC was established in 1961 with the purpose of being the supreme arbitrator of Islamic legal and cultural discourse. Since its inception, IRC has established itself as one of the world's leading councils of Islamic authority, and has offered wisdom and clarity to Muslims worldwide.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa said the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction would violate Islamic teachings, as Muslims as well as non-Muslims could be killed.

He issued the religious ruling, or fatwa, following reports that the use of such weapons was legitimate, the state news agency Mena said.

The Associated Press quoted the Grand Mufti as saying, "This constitutes a surprise (attack), and killing of the unaware. It is not sanctioned to kill them," Gomaa said. "This act also would necessitate killing and annihilating Muslims in those countries," which is unlawful in Islam. - Associated Press, May 31, 2009

His ruling comes just days before the visit to Cairo of U.S. President Barack Obama. Mr. Obama, who arrives on 4 June, is expected to give a speech on U.S. relations with the Muslim world.

To read the full text of the article, click here.

Egypt's ambassador to the United States

The White House recently announced that President Barack Obama will deliver his much-anticipated address to the Muslim world from Egypt in early June. This decision has been warmly received and appreciated by Egyptians, Arabs and the Muslim world at large. Some may wonder why President Obama chose Egypt rather than other attractive venues

In my view, President Obama chose to address the leaders and people of the Muslim world from the very heart of the old world. His decision reflects an understanding of Egypt's rich civilization and its valuable contributions to intellectual thought and cultural exchange throughout the millennia. Along with its promotion of international tolerance, understanding and reconciliation in the modern world, these factors make Egypt the springboard of U.S. engagement in the Middle East.

Moreover, Egypt has long been the locomotive for political, economic and social development in the modern Middle East. It was in Egypt that the region saw its first constitution, its first parliament, and indeed the first to embody the institutions of a modern nation state, all of this dating to the early 19th century.

Thirty years ago, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace accord with Israel and established the framework by which other Arab states and Israel have created their own peace. To this day, Egypt continues to work toward fostering a lasting peace between its neighbors, brokering a permanent cessation of hostilities in Gaza, holding Palestinian unity talks and confronting radical ideology within its own borders. In many ways, Egypt is the arbiter of peace and the force of moderation in the Middle East.

With more than 500 newspapers, journals and magazines and an estimated 162,000 bloggers, making up 30 percent of Arab bloggers worldwide, political discussion and debate within Egypt about the future of the Arab and Muslim world is extensive, and tends to set the tone for such debate among Arabs and Muslims.

Beyond the politics of the Middle East, Egypt is the Arab world's largest and most populous nation. Long at the center of Islamic intellectual thought and learning, Egypt's tradition of religious tolerance and cultural diversity embodies the ideals and values of moderate Islam. The Al Azhar University in Cairo is considered among the oldest seats of Islamic learning and has historically embodied the tradition of moderation and tolerance that characterized Egypt's religious heritage. Egypt is also home to the largest and one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East, making it a melting pot of religions and civilizations.

Egypt's broad efforts at economic liberalization have also been recognized by global leaders. For the third year in a row, Egypt has been named the top economic reformer in the Middle East by the World Bank's Doing Business project. This year, Egypt was also named one of the top 10 global reformers, and when many countries are seeing their economies contract, Egypt is expecting sustained growth.

Bilaterally, the United States and Egypt have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for decades. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently stressed from Cairo that the United States considered Egypt one of its most important partners.

As President Obama eloquently put it, America "is not and will never be at war with Islam." His initiative comes at a very opportune time, and Egypt, America's longstanding friend and ally, is eager to work with the U.S. in advancing the causes of peace and stability in today's troubled world, and mending current relations between the West and Islam.

The White House recently announced that President Barack Obama will deliver his much-anticipated address to the Muslim world from Egypt in early June. This decision has been warmly received and appreciated by Egyptians, Arabs and the Muslim world at large. Some may wonder why President Obama chose Egypt rather than other attractive venues.

In my view, President Obama chose to address the leaders and people of the Muslim world from the very heart of the old world. His decision reflects an understanding of Egypt's rich civilization and its valuable contributions to intellectual thought and cultural exchange throughout the millennia. Along with its promotion of international tolerance, understanding and reconciliation in the modern world, these factors make Egypt the springboard of U.S. engagement in the Middle East.

Moreover, Egypt has long been the locomotive for political, economic and social development in the modern Middle East. It was in Egypt that the region saw its first constitution, its first parliament, and indeed the first to embody the institutions of a modern nation state, all of this dating to the early 19th century.

Thirty years ago, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace accord with Israel and established the framework by which other Arab states and Israel have created their own peace. To this day, Egypt continues to work toward fostering a lasting peace between its neighbors, brokering a permanent cessation of hostilities in Gaza, holding Palestinian unity talks and confronting radical ideology within its own borders. In many ways, Egypt is the arbiter of peace and the force of moderation in the Middle East.

With more than 500 newspapers, journals and magazines and an estimated 162,000 bloggers, making up 30 percent of Arab bloggers worldwide, political discussion and debate within Egypt about the future of the Arab and Muslim world is extensive, and tends to set the tone for such debate among Arabs and Muslims.

Beyond the politics of the Middle East, Egypt is the Arab world's largest and most populous nation. Long at the center of Islamic intellectual thought and learning, Egypt's tradition of religious tolerance and cultural diversity embodies the ideals and values of moderate Islam. The Al Azhar University in Cairo is considered among the oldest seats of Islamic learning and has historically embodied the tradition of moderation and tolerance that characterized Egypt's religious heritage. Egypt is also home to the largest and one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East, making it a melting pot of religions and civilizations.

Egypt's broad efforts at economic liberalization have also been recognized by global leaders. For the third year in a row, Egypt has been named the top economic reformer in the Middle East by the World Bank's Doing Business project. This year, Egypt was also named one of the top 10 global reformers, and when many countries are seeing their economies contract, Egypt is expecting sustained growth.

Bilaterally, the United States and Egypt have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for decades. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently stressed from Cairo that the United States considered Egypt one of its most important partners.

As President Obama eloquently put it, America "is not and will never be at war with Islam." His initiative comes at a very opportune time, and Egypt, America's longstanding friend and ally, is eager to work with the U.S. in advancing the causes of peace and stability in today's troubled world, and mending current relations between the West and Islam.

Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts

On Monday evening, Egypt allowed a European aid-laden convoy to cross into the blockaded Gaza Strip which is ruled by Islamic Hamas movement, officials in Gaza said.

The European aid convoy, called "Hope," included 39 European activists and 40 wagons of humanitarian aid holding food and medicine. It arrived at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Sunday.

...Since June 2007... Israel and Egypt have only opened their border crossings with the Gaza Strip for humanitarian aids, fuels and medicine. Egypt, from time to time, opened its borders for Palestinians to receive medical treatment in Egypt.

The Hope aid convoy is the second that reaches Gaza since the end of Israel's 22-day military offensive on the Gaza Strip which ended on Jan. 18.

The first aid convoy with vehicles, ambulances and trucks, which was led by British member of Common House George Galloway, arrived in the Gaza Strip two weeks after the end of the Israeli offensive."

Arab Republic of Egypt
Press Office - Minister's Cabinet

Cairo, Egypt - Egypt has sent 40 doctors to the western Sudan region to fill the gap which was the result of the expulsion of 13 aid groups working there. Sudanese authorities ordered out 13 foreign aid groups working in Darfur at the beginning of March following the ICC arrest warrant issued against Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir.

A spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry stated that the convoy of doctors and medical supplies left Egypt on April 28th.

The Spokesman added that this convoy follows on Egypt's ongoing contribution to the peacekeeping efforts in Darfur, shown through Egypt's participation in a hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur at the end of March, as well as by projects that Egypt is undertaking to dig wells which will serve the inhabitants of the Sudan.

These initiatives reflect Egypt's intent to support the Sudanese people's efforts in their path towards peace and stability.

Obama to Make Speech to Muslim World from Cairo

WASHINGTON, DC, May 8, 2009 - The Egyptian government warmly welcomes today's announcement by the White House that President Obama will visit Egypt in early June to make his keynote address to the Muslim World.

"President Obama's speech offers an important opportunity to deepen America's engagement with the Arab and Muslim world, and Egypt is a unique venue for that objective," said Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's Ambassador to the United States. Egypt is the Arab world's largest and most populous nation and has long been at the center of Islamic intellectual thought.

Egypt's long tradition of religious tolerance and diversity embodies the ideals and values of moderate Islam. "The true nature of Islam lies in its moderate heart, not at its radical fringes. Egypt is very hopeful that President Obama's speech will mark a watershed in America's relations with the Muslim world," said Ambassador Shoukry.

President's Obama's initiative comes at a very opportune time. There are many challenges facing the Middle East, in particular the need to achieve peace for the people of the region and to reduce the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"It is important that America's relations with the Muslim World be based on mutual respect and understanding. Egypt stands ready to work with President Obama and his Administration towards that objective, in accordance with our longstanding friendship," concluded Ambassador Shoukry.

CONTACT: Karim Haggag
(202) 372 - 7799
karimhaggag@gmail.com

Cairo's desire for Mideast peace threatens Tehran's ambitions.

On April 8, Egypt announced it had uncovered a Hezbollah cell operating inside its borders. This startling pronouncement offers a rare insight into the way Iran and its proxies are manipulating Middle East politics.

According to Egyptian authorities, the cell was tasked with planning attacks against tourist sites in Sinai, conducting surveillance on strategic targets including the Suez Canal, and funneling arms and money to Hamas. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has admitted that the ringleader of the cell was indeed a member of his organization to provide "logistical support to help the Palestinian brothers in transporting ammunition and individuals."

These latest actions by an emboldened Hezbollah have been spurred on by Iran, which is seeking to further its quest for power in the Arab Middle East. In the past six months, there have been irrefutable signs of Iran's determined effort to sabotage Egypt's attempts at regional stability. At Tehran's instigation, Hamas rejected the renewal of the six-month, Egypt-brokered cease-fire last summer between it and Israel. This rejection led to the Gaza war in December. At the height of that war, Mr. Nasrallah called on the people of Egypt and its army to march on the city of Rafah to open the border to Gaza by force, a highly inflammatory appeal aimed at causing insurrection.

After the war ended, Egypt resumed its efforts to reach a long-term cease-fire. Iran pressured the Hamas leadership to resist. Cairo's ongoing effort to build a Palestinian unity government, by bringing together Fatah and Hamas, has also been undermined by intense Iranian pressure on Hamas.

Tehran sees Egypt as its greatest rival in the region, and the most formidable Arab bulwark opposing its influence. It is in this context that Hezbollah actions in Egypt should be assessed. Acting as a front for Iranian objectives, Hezbollah is tasked with distracting Egypt from the diplomatic process that will hopefully lead one day to a two-state solution in the Palestine-Israel conflict.

Egypt's persistent attempts to bring about peace in this arena and its encouragement of other Arab countries to follow its path with Israel threaten to deprive Iran of the single most potent regional issue that it can exploit to further its radical agenda. Thus Tehran seeks to undermine the prospects for this peace -- and it, along with its clients, believe the way to do this is by undermining Egypt. Similarly, Egypt's security interests in the Gulf, and its traditional role as a force for regional stability, present a clear obstacle to Iran's wider regional ambitions.

For President Barack Obama and members of his administration watching from the sidelines, the implications should be clear. A final settlement of the Palestine-Israel conflict is indispensable if the U.S. wishes to check Iran's expanding influence in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the U.S. administration will have to contend with a right-wing Israeli government that has yet to subscribe to the principle of a two-state solution in defiance of international consensus. It will also have to press Israel to halt its illegal settlement activity, which now more than ever endangers the fundamental basis for a solution.

The administration's focus on the immediate issue of Iran's nuclear program should not distract it from addressing Tehran's overall posture towards the peace process or its support for terrorism. Iran's challenge to the regional status quo is multifaceted, which is why Washington must adopt a comprehensive approach as it formulates its nascent engagement with Iran.

It is said that Mr. Obama is still weighing when and where to deliver a major speech to the Arab world. If he were to make such a speech in Cairo, it would give heart to millions in the region who want to see the peace process succeed. It would also send a firm message to Tehran that America stands with Egypt on the side of peace and stability.

Mr. Aly is director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.

Egyptian Ambassador Sameh Shoukry attends Dinner with African Ambassadors on March 26, 2009, on Capital Hil. The forum provides an opportunity for African Ambassadors to share information on the socioeconomic progress of their respective countries, and to speak to policy makers, Members of Congress and the media on their foreign policy objectives.

The number of mobile phone subscriptions in Egypt rose by 642,000 to 56.49 million in February, according to communications ministry data. The figures amount to a penetration rate of around 72 per cent, although industry executives and analysts estimate that some 20 to 25 per cent of the market involves second phones. January subscriptions were 55.848 million.

Most see room for growth up to around 65 million accounts, or 85 per cent of the population.
A year ago the three mobile firms -- Mobinil, Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat Egypt -- had 43.49 million subscribers in Egypt, whose population is 78 million.

The communications minister said in January that a fourth mobile licence could be offered depending on factors such as available spectrum and revenue as well as subscriber growth. The state-owned landline monopoly Telecom Egypt has expressed an interest in any new licence, holding off on a dividend payment last month ahead of a possible bid. Growth in subscriptions has slowed in recent months after jumping 1.67 million in December.

More than a million accounts had been created every month since late in 2008 as the three operators offered heavily discounted on-network plans to garner customers. In October subscriptions fell.