We got a step closer to a new Investment Act yesterday (more on that in Speed Round, below) after a late afternoon session of the House of Representatives approved almost all of the bill’s 92 articles. A final vote on the floor of the House could take place today if MPs and the government can iron out what they want to do with private-sector free zones, which were the topic of bid yesterday evening to reach consensus (or, reading between the lines, prompt the House Economics Committee to drop what media reports suggest is its insistence on allowing the privately-owned zones). Once the act is passed, attention will turn to the executive regulations, on which Investment Minister Sahar Nasr has already begun work with a view to releasing them as soon as possible after the bill becomes a law.

It’s PMI day: The Markit / Emirates NBD purchasing managers’ indexes for Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia will be out this morning at 6:15am CLT, not long after we hit “send” on this issue. Tap here to visit the PMI releases page and download the version of your choice.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is the UAE today on a two-day visit “for wide-ranging talks,” according to Ahram Online. There were no details provided on the visit except that it comes in the context of "the solid brotherly relations between Egypt and the UAE, stressing interest on both sides in ongoing coordination regarding the challenges that the Arab nation is facing, and to consolidate Arab cooperation and protect Arab national security," the newspaper quotes a dispatch from the state-run MENA news agency as saying.

El Sisi arrives in the UAE one day after Libyan rivals sat down with UAE officials in Abu Dhabi for reconciliation talks. Libyan national army chief Gen. Haftar Khalifa (who has backing from Egypt and the UAE) and UN-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Al Sarraj met for direct talks on how to end the conflict brokered by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s The National reports.