What we’re tracking this week
Something is happening with the investment and automotive industry acts this week, and we’re hoping for more clarity on both tomorrow. Both Maglis El Dowla and the House are said to be reviewing Dalia Khorshid’s proposed investment act, while — oddly, in our view — the Central Bank of Egypt appears to have taken an interest in the automotive directive. The central bank’s decision to advance an alternate measure — if accurately portrayed in the press — comes as the directive is stalled in the House, which has rejected certain articles of the act and had held off further discussion on it pending “further study.” Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil has designated the auto industry as a priority, telling investors (pdf) at the EFG Hermes Egypt Conference last week that “The automotive strategy now before Parliament, he said, has the potential to transform Egypt into a leader of the auto industry in the Middle East and Africa.” We’ll have more on both stories tomorrow.