Egypt Weekly Newsletter September 2013, 1St Quarter
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EGYPT WEEKLY NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER, 2013 (1ST QUARTER) CONTENT 1. Political Overview…….....…01 2. Economic Overview………..03 3. Construction..………………...05 4. Automotive……………….…...05 5. Banking……………………..…...06 6. Projects…………………………..06 7. Energy..……..………..…..….…06 8. IT & Telecommunication…08 9. International Relations..….08 10. Industry………………………..09 11. Transportation……………..10 12. Mining……………………….…10 13. Laws & Regulations…..….11 Compiled by Thai Trade Center, Cairo POLITICAL OVERVIEW TWO MONTHS AFTER MORSI'S OUSTER, THOUSANDS PROTEST ACROSS EGYPT Sources: Egypt Independent, 4 September, 2013 Marches by supporters of Mohamed Morsi took place in the capital as well as in Sharqiya in the Nile Delta and Qena in Upper Egypt. Thousands of supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi staged protests across Egypt on Tuesday against what they describe as the "military coup" that ousted him two months previously. The Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi was ousted by Egypt's military on 3 July amid mass nationwide protests against his rule. Several thousand people marched in Cairo and Giza, Suez, the Nile Delta governorate of Sharqiya and Upper Egypt's Qena, but the mobilisation seems to have lost much of its strength. The interim authorities violently cleared two large pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo on 14 August, leaving hundreds dead, mostly protesters. There have also been many arrests, both before and after 14 August, of Brotherhood and Islamist leaders who have been slapped with various charges. Friday 16 August saw huge, heated rallies in support of Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, with exchanges of fire between protesters and security forces leaving dozens dead. However, the following two Fridays saw lowered turnout in the two planned pro-Morsi protests, fuelling speculation that the security clampdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies has left the group crippled. Egypt Weekly Newsletter 1 Thai Trade Center, Cairo September, 2013 (1st quarter) Sherif Yehya Egypt shuts down four TV stations Source: BBC NEWS, 4 September, 2013 An Egyptian court has ordered the closure of four television channels that have been accused of sympathising with the Muslim Brotherhood. They include the Brotherhood's own station, Ahrar 25, and the Egyptian arm of Al-Jazeera. Meanwhile, the Egyptian army has launched helicopter strikes against suspected militant targets in the Sinai peninsula, killing a number of people. The army is trying to assert control over the area bordering Gaza. The closure of the television stations follows a crackdown on media seen as sympathetic to the deposed President Mohammed Morsi, who was overthrown by the army on 3 July, and the Muslim Brotherhood he comes from. Several channels were forced off the air following the military intervention. Now, an administrative court in Cairo has ordered Al-Jazeera's Mubashir Misr outlet to be shut down, along with Ahrar 25 and two other Islamist channels, Al-Quds and Al-Yarmuk. On Monday, Egypt expelled three foreign journalists working for Al-Jazeera's English language channel, saying they did not have correct press accreditation. Mr Morsi is in custody awaiting trial. Prosecutors announced this week that he will be tried on charges of inciting the murder of protesters last year. Sinai strikes Source: Ahramonline, 3 September, 2013 Separately, Egypt's government continued its battle against Islamist militants in the Sinai peninsula on Tuesday, with helicopters launching a series of strikes. At least eight people - said by security sources to be militants - were reported to have been killed, and others injured. Three houses were destroyed and part of a nearby mosque was damaged, a witness told the Associated Press. The military said weapons caches were destroyed. Islamist attacks in the Sinai surged following the overthrow of Mr Morsi, and the army has been trying to re-assert control. It has been targeting tunnels used by militants and smugglers under the border with Gaza. Thirteen homes in the Rafah border town were bulldozed in the past two weeks and tunnels caved in to prepare for a possible buffer zone, according to officials. Mubarak's Lawyer: 'He Will Be a Free Man' Source: Spiegel Online International, 4 September, 2013 Farid al-Deeb, the lawyer of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, talks to SPIEGEL about his client's health and ties to the current transitional government -- and why he believes the ex-president will soon be acquitted. Judicial advisory body recommends dissolution of Egypt's Brotherhood Source: Akhbar El Youm, 2 September, 2013 Egypt's State Commissioners Authority, a body that advises the government on legal issues, has recommended the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood. In an announcement on Monday, the Authority also called for the group’s national Egypt Weekly Newsletter 2 Thai Trade Center, Cairo September, 2013 (1st quarter) Sherif Yehya headquarters in Cairo’s Moqattam to be closed. The recommendations were made in accordance with Law 84 of 2002, which prohibits non-government organisations and institutions from forming paramilitary groups. The Authority's recommendations to the government are non-binding. In March 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood, outlawed since the 1950s, was officially registered as a non-governmental organisation by the Ministry of Social Security. After the removal of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July, then minister of social affairs Nagwa Khalil asked whether the Brotherhood’s headquarters had contained weapons and whether there were militias or militant groups linked to the group. The questions were asked after eight people died on 1 July in clashes at the Brotherhood HQ in Moqattam after dozens of protesters stormed the building. Several Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and his deputies Khairat El-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi, appeared at a criminal court on 31 July for allegedly inciting the killing of protesters at the group’s HQ. ECONOMIC OVERVIEW 613 Egyptian factories closed in recent months: Trade minister Source: Ahramonline, 3 September, 2013 The minister for industry and foreign trade, Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour, has stressed that the number of Egyptian factories that have closed in recent months is not in the thousands as some reports – and government officials – have suggested. The total number of factories closed in Egypt because of financial, technical or security issues is 613, according to the ministry. "That is the only accurate and sure figure. Talking about thousands of factories closed as some do is an exaggeration," Abdel- Nour said during a press conference on Tuesday. Kamal Abu-Eita, minister of manpower, announced a few weeks ago that more than 4,500 factories had closed in Egypt. After the announcement, the state-run Industrial Modernisation Centre (IMC) and the ministry invited those investors in difficulties to contact them. "It is very possible that more factories are facing difficulties but they did not announce themselves," added Abdel-Nour. The figures declared by Abu-Eita were based on a survey conducted by independent NGO the Centre for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) published a few months ago. According to Kamal Abbas, the general coordinator of CTUWS, the figures were obtained through a survey by centre employees with the collaboration of the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress, an independent labour federation, in different industrial cities. "It is possible that some of these factories have reopened since that time. Egypt to inject an additional Egp22.3 billion in public investments Source: Bloomberg, Reuters, 31 August, 2013 The EGP22.3 billion package is the first stage of a government plan to boost the economy over the next ten months, Deputy Premier Ziad Bahaa El-Din said at a press conference in Cairo. Despite the new spending, the government aims to reduce the budget deficit to 9% of GDP in the fiscal year to end June 2014 from 14% last year, through streamlining spending, especially on energy subsidies, Finance Minister Ahmed Galal said. Egypt Weekly Newsletter 3 Thai Trade Center, Cairo September, 2013 (1st quarter) Sherif Yehya Egypt to revive cash transfer programme to help poor families Source: Ministry of Finance, 2 September, 2013 Egypt’s finance ministry has reconsidered starting a conditional cash transfer programme to help impoverished families as a part of the government’s plan to optimise social justice, an official told Ahram Online on Tuesday. Conditional cash transfer programmes (CCTs) work by making the receipt of government welfare funds conditional on recipients carrying out certain actions. “CCT programmes have been fruitful in Brazil, Chile and Mexico, and we plan to achieve the same result and reduce the poverty rate in Egypt,” Mesbah Qotb, the advisor to the Egyptian finance minister told Ahram Online. Qotb said that the Egyptian initiative is similar to a Mexican initiative to combat poverty, the "Oportunidades" programme. In the early 2000s, the Mexican government launched a programme helping poor families in rural and urban communities invest in human capital by improving the education, health, and nutrition of their children. “The conditions are quite simple; for families that want to get cash, they have mainly to take care of their children’s health and education,” Qotb said. The ministry of finance has not released any details about the programme, including the amount of money that will be allocated, the beneficiaries or the regions targeted. "The bodies and authorities that are tasked with the matter will schedule several meetings to agree on the mechanism of implementing the initiative," Qotb told Ahram Online. Qotb said that the ministry is currently restructuring the social protection system to better aid poor families, and added that the new scheme will contribute to subsidy reform. According to official data, Egypt’s poverty rate has increased in recent years, reaching an average of 25.5 percent for the year 2010/2011, compared with 21.6 percent in 2008/2009. Poverty is particularly prevalent in rural areas, where 69 percent of the population is below the poverty line.