A. $ 5.3 billion surplus of balance of payments for the fiscal year 2006/2007
1. In a statement released on 25/8/2007, the Central Bank of Egypt indicated that the surplus of balance of payments for the fiscal year 2006/2007 reached $ 5.3 billion compared to last year's surplus, which stood at $ 3.3 billion. This increase was attributed, according to the CBE, to the surplus in the balance of trade dealings that hit $ 2.7 billion and a surplus inthe balance of capital and financial dealing that reached $ 1.1 billion.
2. The surplus in the balance of services and the financial dealings had covered the balance of trade deficit, which eventually lead to the surplus in current transactions.
3. Also, Egypt's commodity exports increased by $ 3.6 billion at an increase rate of 19.3 % to reach $ 22 billion in the said period. Meanwhile, Egypt's imports increased by $ 7.4 billion at a rate of 24.3 % to reach $ 37.8 billion.
4. The balance of services also showed a remarkable increase in its surplus at a rate of 39.8% to reach $ 11.5 billion against $ 8.2 billion in the previous fiscal year. The increase came as a result of the increase in tourism revenues by 10.7% to reach $8 billion and the increase in Suez Canal revenues by 17.2% to reach $4.3 billion.
5. The FDI reached $11.1 billion, compared to $6.1 billion in the same period last year. This increase is attributed to the increase in FDI flow and the establishment of new companies, in addition to the increase in investments in petroleum sector to reach $3.1 billion compared to $906 million in the said period last year.
B. Euromoney Conference in Egypt:
1. The PM opens on the 4th of September the second Euromoney conference, that will last for two days, with the participation of the minister of finance, minister of investment, minister of trade and industry, minister of communication and the minister of petroleum as well as head of Central Bank of Egypt and several Egyptian and foreign experts.
2. The press release of the Euromoney institute states that the opening session will start with an inaugurating speech of PM. Moreover, discussions between the minister of finance and the board chairman of Euromoney conference will take place in the first session.
3. The first day will witness a group of workshops around the fund for financing mortgage and its role in Egypt. Also discussion sessions on the Egyptian stock market will be held.
4. The second day will tackle the banking system in Egypt. furthermore, workshops to discuss real estate market and natural gas will be held.
5. The board chairman of Euromoney conference stated that the Egyptian market achieved leaps in recent years in the field of luring international investments. He added that the Egyptian market enjoys relative advantages, which made it able to lure more foreign capital.
C. Minister of Investment Visits Syria
1. During his visit to Syria, the minister of Investment held a negotiation session with the Syrian PM on Sunday 26/8/2007, where the minister discussed the means of increasing investments between the two countries as well as boosting cooperation in economic and trade domain.
2. This visit aims at activating the protocol for investment cooperation signed by both parties during the joint supreme Egyptian Syrian committee held in Cairo in 2006; which pointed out in its fifth article the formation of a joint technical committee to carry out the above mentioned protocol.
3. The minister also tackled the program for technical cooperation in insurance and financial services, which opened new horizons for Egyptian companies working in such fields, that is within the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 5/12/2006 between the Egyptian stock market and its Syrian counterpart to increase the investments in the stock market.
4. It is worth mentioning that the Syrian investments to Egypt had increased lately especially in textile and weaving industry and tourism; whereas the Egyptian investments to Syria were mainly in long term economic activities as in petrochemical industries, cement and cable industries.
D. Industrial investments hit L.E 32bn in nine months
1. The industrial investments reached LE 32 billion in the first nine months of the fiscal year 2006/2007 compared to the same period in the fiscal year 2003/2004, which accounted for LE 6 billion. Furthermore, local and foreign industrial investments are expected to soar to LE 40 billion at the end of the year.
2. The trade and Industry Minister said the ministry is keen on creating new financing mechanisms to develop the industrial sector. Meanwhile, a plan will be drawn up during the coming period to cooperate with the banking sector to facilitate the inflow of finance into the industrial sector, particularly in light of new projects in Upper Egypt, whose allocations are estimated at around LE 1 billion.
3. The minister added that the new energy pricing system, adopted by the supreme council of energy, paved the way towards increasing the investments.
4. On his part, the chairman of Banque Misr said the banking sector is keen on supporting the Egyptian industry to enhance its competitiveness both inside and outside Egypt as it is the locomotive of economic development in the country.
E. Energy Sector:
I. Petrojet Wins International Tender to Execute Potash Project in Jordan
1. Petrojet company won the International Tender offered by the Jordanian Potash Company, in which several International companies participated, in order to implement a new unit project to produce 450 thousand tons annually of Potash, which is used in various chemical industries, including fertilizers. The project costs $ 85 million.
2. The minister of petroleum assured the success of the petroleum sector strategy to increase its activities overseas, referring to the tenders won by several Egyptian companies in Arab countries as Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya and Sudan.
II. Indian investments in Petroleum and Petrochemical Projects
1. Minister of Petroleum received a delegation of the Indian Group of companies Reliance where they discussed the establishment of new projects in the fields of refining , petrochemicals and natural gas as well as oil & gas marketing and exploration activities .The Indian group of companies reviewed the plans set by the Indian group which targets the investment of $10 billion in the various petroleum fields of industries particularly in the domain of petrochemicals, along with establishing an integrated complex for manufacturing plastic industries which are used in all the industrial, agricultural, food and infrastructure products, as one of the complementary industries of petrochemical products. The complex capacity is about $ 1.3 million tons and it is regarded one of the greatest complexes worldwide, with investment of $ 1.5 billion and production value of $ 2.5 billion and accommodates 90 direct job opportunities & another 90 indirect job opportunities. The project will meet the local market requirements along with export to Europe & the Arab as well as the African regions.
2. The head of the Indian group of companies pointed out the financial status and the activities of the group, where he stated that it is considered as one of the largest Indian companies, as its revenues reach around $25.5 billion.