TL;DR

KSA likely to maintain fuel supplies to Egypt for the coming five years; USD 20 bn deal to be inked at ceremony attended by El Sisi and Salman. (Speed Round)

Is Zohr smaller than we thought? Israel’s Globes argues it might be. (Speed Round)

Rejection of French grain cargo makes international headlines (Speed Round)

Global auto brands waiting for ‘automotive directive,’ export policy before committing to new investments. (Speed Round)

Abraaj isn’t planning any major healthcare acquisitions in Egypt, Badreldin says. (Speed Round)

Planning Ministry looking to hammer out a compromise with MPs on Civil Service Act. (Speed Round)

Russia, OPEC dance around cooperation + how Wall Street got China’s role in the oil crisis entirely wrong. (The Macro Picture)

By the Numbers

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Egypt will continue to receive petroleum products from Saudi Arabia for the the next five years, according to Bloomberg. (More in Speed Round).

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meets today and tomorrow. The Fed is expected to release a statement on Wednesday at around 9pm CLT, the expectation being that it has limited options given current market turmoil. There’s also a growing sense in some quarters that the Fed jumped the gun with its December interest rate hike. The Financial Times quotes JPMorgan Asset Management’s chief investment officer as noting: “It is reasonable for investors to wonder whether Fed’s December rate hike was a policy error. Historically the Fed has raised rates because either growth or inflation was uncomfortably high. This time is different — growth is slow; wage growth is limited; deflation is being imported.” The WSJ takes a similar line, writing: “After a bone-jarring start to 2016, many investors hope the Fed is having second thoughts about hiking rates three or four more times this year” in “Why the Fed Is the Root of Much Market Turmoil.” You can find the Fed’s 2016 meeting calendar here.

Winter is coming. Expect heavy rains and overnight lows of 4C for the next couple of days, according to meteorologists. Also on the agenda, although we couldn’t get anyone to confirm it: traffic slowing to a crawl, colleagues calling in sick and mud — so much mud.

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING THIS WEEK

It’s earnings week in Amreeka: Apple and P&G report today. Facebook and Boeing will follow suit tomorrow (Wednesday), the same day the U.S. Fed releases a statement after the FOMC meeting. Look for Caterpillar (recently downgraded to “sell” by Goldman Sachs amid its prediction of a new “commodity deflation cycle”) and Amazon on Thursday, and Chevron and MasterCard on Friday.

On Thursday, the Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meets to discuss interest rates. See the 2016 meeting calendar here.

While there’s still no word on when President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will hold meetings with Sudan and Ethiopia for GERD talks this week in Addis Ababa, the 26th African Union Summit is still ongoing and expected to last until 31 January.

ON THE HORIZON

Russia and Egypt are expected to sign an MoU to create a Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal area. The signing will take place during a trade and policy mission to Egypt between 31 January and 2 February, sources told TASS on Sunday. The Russian delegation will be led by Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and include representatives from some 60 Russian companies interested in energy and transport infrastructure projects in Egypt.

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

Our daily Talk Show coverage is on a short hiatus as we adjust to working on our new GCC Edition and come off our last national holiday until April. We’ll be back tomorrow.

Speaking of the Enterprise GCC Edition: We have had a phenomenal response to our request for beta readers, so we’re opening the alpha program to everyone who has written in asking to be added to the list. You can sign up via this link. The alpha edition will be published 2-3x weekly during the workday until mid-February, then move to a Sunday-Thursday publication schedule, delivered before 6am KSA / 7AM UAE.

SPEED ROUND

So what happened on the anniversary of 25 January? Nothing, for the most part. While a few small pro-Morsi protests in Alexandria were quickly dispersed, the seaside town also saw Sisi supporters distributing flowers to officers for Police Day, according to Ahram Online. Daily News Egypt is running photos of the flower-giving here. In response, Egyptians, without missing a beat, flooded our Facebook feeds with this. Activist Sanaa Seif held a one-woman demonstration in Tahrir that fell on deaf ears while many in the square celebrated Police Day (video, run time 2:38). Al Mal writes an interesting piece about how clashes between security forces and activists has moved from Tahrir to Facebook, with the newspaper rounding up reactions from Facebook pages and other social media on the debate between 25 January / Police Day.

On the business front, the last few days have been all about fuel: Saudi Arabia will likely maintain fuel supplies to Egypt, with the nation set to receive USD 20 bn worth of oil products from the kingdom over the next five years, an official tells Bloomberg. “The deal grants Egypt easy payment terms … the agreement details will be made public at a ceremony attended by both heads of state,” the anonymous official said. This follows a finalized USD 1.5 bn, three-month fuel supply agreement that has been rolled into the five-year deal, the source added. The announcement is timely given reports that strong supplies to industry and households alike of late has likely been due to a “lull in demand due to moderate weather and slower production,” according to a piece by economic researcher at the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt Brendan Meighan.

BP’s LNG cargo destined for Egypt aboard the tanker British Sapphire, which was diverted to Brazil, was postponed by mutual consent to 3Q2016 to manage peak summer demand, BP Egypt says. “BP has been awarded an LNG supply contract to Egypt to supply cargoes from mid 2015. Six cargoes have been successfully delivered and BP has either received payment in full or received agreed collateral from EGAS for all six cargoes,” BP Egypt tells Reuters. Speculation had arisen that the diversion was related to payment issues. However, Reuters still maintains that its financial sources said Egypt had asked for 90 days to pay for LNG deliveries, up from “the traditional 15,” creating arrears estimated at USD 400-500 mn.

Maintaining LNG supplies seems to be even more critical than before as reports surface that Zohr might not be as big as we thought. The original estimates for the reserves the Zohr gas field holds have been halved to 16 tcf from 30 tcf, according to reports cited by Globes. The reports have not yet been confirmed. Globes posits that “if the reports of Zohr’s reduced size are true, making it considerably smaller that Leviathan’s 22 tcf, the Israeli gas field will suddenly have new relevance.”

…Globes’ Hedy Cohen is also calling on the Leviathan partners to secure an export contract to Egypt before BG and Shell’s merger is completed. If not signed within the next few days “such an agreement is liable to be delayed substantially, at best, or, at worst, to disappear from the agenda,” she warns. Once the merger is complete, “Shell, which operates in Qatar and may do so in Iran as well, will think twice before signing a deal in Israel.” Shell has not indicated that it plans to focus operations in Egypt or Israel.

Global automotive brands including Toyota, Ford, Peugeot as well as Malaysia’s Proton are waiting for details of the government’s domestic auto manufacturing strategy before ramping up activity in Egypt, sources tell Al Masry Al Youm. The companies have been asking the Ismail government about its strategy and incentives for the sectors, with a senior Toyota executive meeting with the Suez Canal Development Project’s head Ahmed Darwish. The source adds that the government has yet to develop a policy on automotive exports. As noted earlier in the month, the government may present the strategy, which will grant tax breaks based on the size of a company’s manufacturing base in Egypt and its exports, as part of its program to the House of Representatives in early February.

Abraaj is not planning any major healthcare acquisitions in Egypt, Partner Ahmed Badreldin tells Al Mal, speaking to media reports that the emerging markets PE outfit is looking to acquire any of Salam, Golf, Nozha or Nakheel hospitals or pharmaceuticals manufacturer Rameda. The company has refrained from expanding its investments in the healthcare sector as it awaits the passage of amendments to the healthcare act in Egypt. All of Abraaj’s hospital holdings in Egypt have been merged under the banner of Cleopatra, and the company will eventually float them on the EGX, Badreldin added. Abraaj Group controls 400 beds of a market of 100k hospital beds, he notes.

… Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Badreldin also tells Al Arabiya that Abraaj Group would focus on defensive sectors in the upcoming period as oil prices remain low. Spending on healthcare, education, clothing and food is likely to remain resilient, he added. The group sees attractive investment opportunities in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. Badreldin also noted that even though there is a larger scope for non-oil investments, banks in oil-exporting countries are starting to see an impact on their liquidity levels. (Watch in Arabic or read, run time 4:08.)

Rejection of French cargo follows delays to other grain imports to Egypt: Ed Ballard for the Wall Street Journal (paywall) writes on the confusion surrounding a 63,000 metric ton shipment of French wheat that has been idled at port over the past month while the Agriculture Ministry and General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) have issued conflicting statements. Officials from the Agriculture Ministry reportedly rejected the shipment on 22 January for containing a trace amount of the ergot fungus in what has previously been a tolerated level, according to an unnamed source speaking to the WSJ. However, “officials from Gasc and Egypt’s Ministry of Supply told reporters that its own standards hadn’t changed and said that it would continue to tolerate limited ergot contamination. Gasc didn’t respond to requests for comment.” Three other cargoes of grain were reportedly held up as late as last week, despite having originally been scheduled for delivery in December, as letters of credit from Egyptian banks have not been sent as expected.

The Planning Ministry is set to hold meetings over the next few weeks with MPs to discuss the House of Representatives’ objections to the Civil Service Act. The ministry is willing to form a joint committee to amend the draft bill. The government appears to be scrapping any temporary legislation to keep payrolls flowing and plans to resolve the issue of amending the bill “within the coming days” so the transitional period does not drag on, according to ministry sources.

The Cabinet Economic Group approved the Education Ministry’s plan to build new schools across Egypt in partnership with the private sector during its meeting on Sunday. The first phase of the plan will see 2,023 land parcels in Egypt made available for tendering by the governorates (not the Investment Ministry), according to an emailed statement from the cabinet. As we noted back in December, the Education Ministry is planning to issue EGP 15 bn in tenders under the public-private partnership system to build schools with a combined capacity of up to 58,000 classrooms by 2018. The group also approved forming a state-owned private equity firm named Amlak to invest in private sector construction and infrastructure development, Al Mal reports. Amlak will be among the government’s primary investment arms and will channel funds into major infrastructure and national projects.

Juhayna’s 4Q2015 consolidated revenues grew 23% y-o-y to EGP 1.13 bn with net income rising 84% y-o-y to EGP 61 mn, according to the company’s disclosure. “The jump in gross profit comes primarily on the back of a continued decline in raw material prices,” the company said in a separate emailed statement. Revenues rose 15% on a full-year basis to EGP 4.2 bn, while net income rose 65% year-on-year to EGP 280 mn on a 12-month basis. Dairy accounted for 52% of consolidated revenues in FY2015, while yoghurt brought in 25%.

Kuwait is planning a new USD 100 bn sovereign fund, Bloomberg reports, citing Al-Anba newspaper. The fund is set to include local assets managed by Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) and has a goal of selling them to private investors in five to seven years. Stakes in local companies, as well as power and water projects, are also reported to be included in the fund. Officials told Al-Anba that KIA will look to focus more on its international portfolio as it “has been burdened by its domestic mandate.”

The upside to low oil prices: Citigroup said it expects assets managed by its private banking business in the Middle East to increase by more than 20% in 2016 “as the region’s wealthiest families use institutions to shift more of their investments overseas amid the slump in oil prices,” Bloomberg reports. “We’ve seen a serious shift over the last six months … Bulge-bracket families are reconsidering their strategy. The client that traditionally allocated 5 to 10 percent to international markets is now looking at between 20 and 30 percent,” the regional head of Citigroup’s private banking said.

“Saudi Arabia outlined ambitious plans on Monday to move into industries ranging from information technology to health care and tourism,” Reuters reports. “Top Saudi officials said they would reduce the kingdom’s dependence on oil and public sector employment. Growth and job creation would shift to the private sector, with state spending helping to jump-start industries in the initial stage.”

Want to quit smoking, lose weight or slip the black dog of depression? Take up knitting. Or, if you’re an investment banker, go get a job at JPMorgan, which on Thursday announced its “Pencils Down” initiative as it “told its investment bankers that they should take weekends off when they’re not working on imminent deals.” Imminent deals, apparently, means one that will be announced on Monday. JPM also recently announced a fast-track initiative that aims to make high-flying hires into MDs before the age of 30. Elsewhere, Morgan Stanley just announced 156 new managing directors. Business Insider has a statistical breakdown and the full list of names, but no bios.

THE MACRO PICTURE

Russia and OPEC may be looking for common ground on production policy, according to reports from across the business news spectrum this morning, but Saudi Arabia may not be willing to play ball. Check out coverage from Reuters, the Financial Times or the Telegraph. The news comes as Saudi Aramco said it could “withstand low oil prices for ‘a long, long time’ and hasn’t cut investment in new oil production,” the WSJ reports.

China’s contribution to low oil prices isn’t just on the demand side — it’s also messing up the supply picture at home and abroad, largely through the activities of its so-called “teapot refiners,” Business Insider reports in “Wall Street got the China oil story wrong, and it will make everything that’s happening now much worse.”

EGYPT IN THE NEWS

Whatever one’s current mood on the condition of the country may be — irrepressibly cheerful, neutral, neutral-apathetic, chaotic-neutral, suicidal or post-suicidal — one thing all informed observers should be unitedly depressed about is the consistently poor quality of coverage the country continues to receive in the global press. We’ll take today as an opportunity to look at the worst of the worst.

On the Brotherhood’s seized assets and the media’s innumeracy: The State Information Service’s Foreign Press Office on Sunday released a 154-page report in Arabic (download the full thing in pdf) on the activities of the Committee on Sequestration and Management of Brotherhood Funds.

Lyons-based Africanews, home to Euronews, acquired last year by Sawiris-family owned Media Globe Network, put the total figure seized in their headline and lede at USD 34 mn. The piece itself, however, quotes the head of the committee speaking at a press conference on Sunday as putting the amount of cash seized from bank accounts at EGP 20 mn (c.USD 2.5 mn) along with a small USD sum of USD 64,000. Islamist-leaning Middle East Monitor put the figure at USD 695 mn.

Kudos to Egypt-based Ahram Online, which actually did the work of pulling out cash assets denominated in USD, EGP and EUR along with fixed assets, as did Reuters-backed Aswat Masriya in their Arabic write-up of the story, which both put the approximate value of assets seized from the Ikhwan at USD 1.1 bn.

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On yesterday’s 25 January anniversary turnout: The difference between Reuters’ coverage of the anniversary of 25 January and that of Al Jazeera’s couldn’t be more stark: Reuters’ headline reads: ‘Little sign of protest on anniversary of Egypt’s uprising,’ as opposed Al Jazeera’s: ‘Arab Spring anniversary: Protesters defy crackdown.’ Al Jazeera was unable to publish any video of said demonstrations, however, and instead relied on archival footage from protests over the past five years. In an alternate plane of existence altogether was Ikhwanweb with their claim: “Hundreds of 1000s of Egyptians take to the streets on #Jan25.” Meanwhile, journalist Bel Trew tweeted “The Brotherhood (banned in #Egypt) announced 35 marches today in Cairo / Giza – couldn’t locate any of them or see any reports on them.”

In which we are told, in so many words, that Egyptians have no agency, free will or ultimate responsibility for our fate: Ganzeer is one of the most interesting and talented artists to emerge from the past few tumultuous years in Egypt. Unfortunately, his writing leaves far more to be desired. In his recently-published article for Salon, ‘Egypt, five years later: A human-rights catastrophe of America’s making,’ Ganzeer’s argument boils down to the following: The U.S.’s support of the Egyptian military and supplying the MOI with tear gas make the U.S. not just complicit in Egypt’s political missteps, but a key factor in them.
Brian Dooley, director of Human Rights Defenders at Human Rights First, makes a similar argument in US News & World Report: “Part of why the revolution failed, many say, is that the international community too readily supported the repressive regimes that followed the 2011 fall of Mubarak.”

If Egypt were unable to get tear gas and or military aid from the U.S., would it not be able to receive them elsewhere? Would the lack of tear gas and or military aid lead to the blossoming of a liberal democracy in Egypt? By blaming the U.S. as the deciding actor for the events of the past five years, how are we any different from the Hezb El Tante sycophants, sociopathic Islamists and sclerotic government that he derides? All these factions attribute anything they don’t like to foreign meddling, while any development they view as positive of course sprang forth from their own hard work.

By implying, as these authors and others have done, that the U.S. role in Egypt is somehow pivotal, all Egyptians are done a disservice by perpetuating this victimhood narrative embraced by the entirety of the political spectrum that says that everything negative that happens is because of everyone else. It is perhaps a more satisfying argument to make as opposed to calling for taking ownership of our own problems and beginning the long, painful and unglamorous process of resolving them.

Where are they now, asks the BBC of Egypt’s revolutionaries. The short answer: mostly abroad or in jail. But a few activists and journalists are still in Egypt and not behind bars. “They say I am a traitor and foreign agent and that we are the people who destroyed the country,” Esraa Abdel-Fattah, a co-founder of April 6, tells Reuters. Reporter Hossam Bahgat tells the Guardian that the scale of state repression in Egypt is greater today than it has been for generations. Egypt is second only to China as the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2015, according to CPJ. But Abdel-Fattah still hopes for change, “I am ready to play any role, big or small, to complete this revolution, I could be jailed for a tweet, or anything I write.”

And, finally: In a rather bleak look at how things have unfolded since 2011, the Guardian rounds up several Arab Spring figures in a piece entitled “‘I was terribly wrong’ – writers look back at the Arab spring five years on.” Egyptian writer Ahdaf Soueif touched on the GERD, saying “In the surge of action and optimism that came with the revolution in January 2011, people’s delegations headed south to mend relations eroded by three decades of prideful neglect … All this is now gone – as has so much else of January 2011: lives and livelihoods, ideas and energy and hope.” Across the pond, Palestinian lawyer and writer Raja Shehadeh said, “I thought then that when a people rise up against oppression they are bound ultimately to win. I was wrong.” Jailed Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah says, “I have nothing to say: no hopes, no dreams, no fears, no warnings, no insights; nothing, absolutely nothing … It may have been naive to believe our dream could come true, but it was not foolish to believe that another world was possible.”

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Receiving wide international coverage this morning is the story that eight Egyptian Museum employees could face trial over the botched repair of King Tutankhamun’s gold mask, aka the epoxy incident. The story was covered by Time, which reports that the workers will be charged with “gross negligence.” The AP quotes the prosecutor’s’ statement as saying that “in an attempt to cover up the damage they inflicted, [the employees] used sharp instruments such as scalpels and metal tools to remove traces of adhesive on the mask, causing damage and scratches that remain.” Euronews and The Independent also carried the story.

WORTH WATCHING

Tina Fey’s hyper-realistic recreation of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on the latest episode of Saturday Night Live. (Watch, running time: 5 minutes)

DIPLOMACY + FOREIGN TRADE

Egypt signed for the first tranche (EGP 250 mn) of a USD 200 mn grant from the Saudi Fund for Development to finance SME projects in North and South Sinai, reports Al Shorouk.

Egypt is set to participate in negotiations to establish an African free trade zone next month. The proposed pact would link the SADC, EAC and COMESA trade blocs, Al-Ahram notes. In other trade news: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan formed first Agadir Agreement Business Council in Casablanca as part of the trade pact by the same name, the newspaper reports.

Egypt has begun negotiations with a number of UAE companies to invest in Egypt, particularly in the Suez Canal area, Egypt’s Consulate General in Dubai says, according to Al Masry Al Youm.

New aid for Syria, Libya, Yemen? The World Bank Group, the Islamic Development Bank and other donors met in Amman on Monday to discuss issuing interest-free development loans for some of the Middle East’s hardest hit countries such as Syria, Libya and Yemen. The meeting will also look to establishing a new fund for these nations along with countries that host refugees from those countries, including Egypt, says International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr, who is attending the gathering. (Read)

** Further Reading in Diplomacy: Key facts on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Mideast tour, South China Morning Post. (Read)

ENERGY

Global oil prices reduce Egypt’s LNG bill to less than USD 3 bn, says EGAS
The cost of importing LNG will drop to USD 2.75-3 bn bn by the end of FY2015-16 due to falling global oil prices, says EGAS Chairman Khaled Abdel Badie. EGAS had originally estimated the cost at USD 3.5 bn at the beginning of the fiscal year. The cost of petroleum product subsidies will also fall by around EGP 6 bn to EGP 55 bn from the targeted EGP 61 bn for the current fiscal year, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla had said previously. (Read in Arabic)

Siemens signs project-specific compliance agreements with Elsewedy and OC
Siemens, Orascom Construction (OC), and Elsewedy Electric signed agreements to “establish comprehensive integrity and clean business standards for work on energy infrastructure projects in Egypt.” The agreements provide a statement that the partners “stand together for clean business in Egypt,” CEO of Siemens Middle East and UAE Dietmar Siersdorfer said. The three companies are working to construct three combined-cycle power plants. (Read)

NREA in negotiations with lenders to finance EUR 2 bn wind power station
The New and Renewable Energy Authority is in negotiations with 10 international and domestic lenders to finance the 2,000 MW Siemens wind farm. The NREA is looking for EUR 180 mn to fund the first phase of the EUR 2 bn project, said NREA chief Mohamed El Sobky, which has a capacity of 180 MW. The project will be built on an EPC-plus-finance basis. Among the institutions in question are NBE, CIB, the IFC and EBRD, among others. (Read in Arabic)

Cairo Electricity to issue tender for steam turbines this week
The Cairo Electricity Production Company plans to issue an international tender to supply and install steam turbines at the 650 MW West Cairo Power Plant this week, sources tell Al Mal. The natural-gas-run power plant is expected to come online in 2019. (Read in Arabic)

Benban solar farm companies to issue service tenders in the coming weeks
The 39 companies of the USD 1.8 bn Benban solar farm will issue tenders over the coming weeks for technical, administrative and security services, Al Borsa reports. International finance institutions, which have been locked in negotiations with the companies and the Electricity Ministry over financing the project, have made contracting these services to “experienced and recognized” vendors a condition for financing, says the head of one of the Benban companies. The issue has became a major obstacle during the last few months, as feed-in tariff operators complained about the lack of infrastructure, labor and security in the area, prompting a number of service providers to solicit their business.

INFRASTRUCTURE

New Minya to issue infrastructure tenders for 1,360 feddans in March
The New Minya City Authority will issue a number of tenders for extending infrastructure to 1,360 feddans in March. The duration of the contracts is expected to be 12 months, says Mohamed El Kosry, head of the City Authority. Work will be spread over 15 non-residential land plots that are set to be offered to investors before year-end. The sizes of the plots will range from 800 sqm to 10,000 sqm. (Read in Arabic)

BASIC MATERIALS + COMMODITIES

Strategic partnership with Russia to build silos and mills
Russian Trade Representative Fyodor Lukashin suggested during a meeting with Supply Minister Khaled Hanafy a strategic partnership with Egypt in the logistics center set to be built in Damietta. The partnership would see Russia build storage silos and mills for wheat and grain, as well as offer logistical services. Lukashin had also asked to sign a cooperation protocol with Hanafy for silos and grain storage. (Read in Arabic)

Gov’t partners with private sector to offer imported food for bread points
The Supply Ministry launched an initiative in partnership with the private sector that would see widespread distribution of food imports for bread points in the supply smart card system. Under the initiative, over 100 food items brought in through 650 private sector importers would be distributed across 25,000 grocery stores and passed on to the consumer for bread points. The initiative is expected to supply EGP 500 mn in goods per month to around 70 mn citizens. (Read in Arabic)

Agriculture Ministry launches nationwide livestock quarantine to guard against foot-and-mouth disease
The Agriculture Ministry launched a nationwide quarantine of livestock on Sunday amid reports that foot-and-mouth disease was spreading, Al Borsa reports. The quarantine included the closing of the Mahmoudia livestock market in Beheira for one month and issuing warrants against those who refuse to comply. As it stands, 380k heads of cattle have been quarantined. Some officials, however, have described reports of the epidemic as “exaggerated,” with only 21 confirmed cases in El Beheiria governorate. Livestock merchants have spoken out against these remarks, with some estimating that the disease claimed 10-15% of livestock in El Manoufiya. (Read in Arabic)

MANUFACTURING

Toyota Tsusho to conduct assessments at the Suez Canal development area
The Toyota Tsusho Corporation, a member of the Toyota Group, has signed an agreement with the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone to prepare a definitive study of the economic zone land, Al Borsa reports. The study will determine the needs and priorities, as well as the areas where the company needs to be present to build water and power stations. (Read in Arabic)

HEALTH + EDUCATION

Doctor’s Syndicate rejects Mandatory Training Authority
The Doctor’s Syndicate and Medical Professions Syndicate are both criticizing a cabinet decision to establish a Mandatory Training Authority, saying they were not consulted. (Read in Arabic)

TOURISM

Russia interested in resuming flights to Egypt, Naryshkin says
“Russia is interested in resuming in full its relations with Egypt in tourism and in civil aviation flights,” Sergei Naryshkin, the speaker of the Russian lower house of parliament said, according to Reuters. Naryshkin is visiting Egypt this week and he did not rule out talks on resuming flights between the two countries but “only in case the safety of [Russian] citizens is fully [ensured].” (Read)

AUTOMOTIVE + TRANSPORTATION

Negotiations with Alstom, Ansaldo Energia, Bombardier to invest in railroads
The Transport Ministry has entered negotiations with Alstom, Ansaldo Energia and Bombardier Inc. to invest in the Egyptian National Railways development projects, Al Borsa reports. On the agenda are improvements to the communications, signal systems and remote control systems, as well as importing locomotives. The ministry is trying to avoid taking new loans, unless they are facilitated, says Transport Minister Saad El Geyoushi, instead preferring to partner with the private sector to make use of foreign expertise and train the domestic workforce. (Read in Arabic)

BANKING + FINANCE

Banks look to form independent SME financing subsidiaries
A number of banks, including United National Bank Egypt, Banque du Caire and AAIB are looking into forming independent SME finance companies as a means of meeting the CBE’s initiative. It is unlikely, however, that larger banks, which have well-established SME finance departments spread across regional branches, will make the move, the sources add. (Read in Arabic)

Get your credit score at ATMs or online through NBE
NBE is looking to put into effect an agreement with credit bureau i-Score that would allow clients to apply for their credit score reports through ATMs and mobile phones. (Read in Arabic)

OTHER BUSINESS NEWS OF NOTE

24 hours to establish a company in Suez Canal Zone, says head of the Economic Zone
It takes 24 hours to establish a company in the Suez Canal Zone through the one-stop-shop window at the investor services center in Ain Al Sokhna, says Ahmed Darwish, head of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone. (Read in Arabic)

EGYPT POLITICS + ECONOMICS

Local development ministry wants to decentralize control of land tenders
The Local Development Ministry sent a letter to the cabinet calling for the transfer of jurisdiction on land tendered for investment projects to governorates instead of central government bodies, including the General Authority for Investment (GAFI), New Urban Communities Authority, Tourism Development Authority and the Industrial Development Authority. The proposal is meant to expedite the issuance of permits and negotiations for land between investors and governorates, said Qaliubya Governor Reda Farahat. According to sources speaking to Al Borsa, the cabinet reportedly issued no objections to the proposal when it was first brought up by a number of governorates back in December. The move, which comes on the back of GAFI’s delay in implementing an efficient land tendering system and the one-stop-shop policy for investors, would mean a marked shift in investment policy if accepted, not mention a break with the Investment Act. As we noted on Sunday, the government has begun partnering with different agencies in issuing tenders until the one-stop-shop system comes into effect. These factors may make the Local Development Ministry’s request unfeasible at this time. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.

ON YOUR WAY OUT

It’s officially over (again): Mohamed Alabbar’s Capital City Partners will not be part of the new administrative capital project, according to Al Ahram. Alabbar says the Egyptian government changed some of the terms of the MoU signed at the EEDC, which stopped the company from moving ahead with a final, mutually accepted agreement. He added, however, that other investments are moving ahead in Egypt.

French incubator NUMA will monitor Egypt-based dairy farm management technology solutions company Farminal as part of the Paris French Tech Ticket. Farminal’s CEO Waleed Sorour told Al Mal in December that the company struggled to raise funds last year given the economic downturn, but secured financing from ITIDA’s Information Technology Academia Collaboration (ITAC).

The ports of Alexandria and Dekheila were closed yesterday for the fourth day in a row after wind speeds increased over 30 knots, Al Mal reports.

Unnamed Chinese companies in the news. Continuing our grand national tradition of citing unnamed sources talking about unnamed companies, the Housing Ministry is reportedly inked an MoU with a Chinese contractor to build an “entertainment city” in the new administrative capital, while another unnamed Chinese company has reportedly concluded an agreement to establish an industrial zone for the auto industry and a car factory in the Suez Canal Development Zone.

Guess who’s back? A Cairo administrative court revoked a decision to ban MP and unintentional-comedian Tawfiq Okasha from media appearances after he gave an interview  admonishing security forces, Al Shorouk reports.