On the horizon
You can expect the French foreign minister in town before month’s end. French President Emmanuel Macron has instructed Jean-Yves Le Drian to visit Egypt by the end of April, Macron told President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in a phone call yesterday, according to an Ittihadiya statement.
The International Monetary Fund and Central Bank of Egypt are co-hosting a high-level conference on economic growth and job creation in Egypt, according to an IMF press release. Speakers at the 5-6 May event in Cairo will include Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Finance Minister Amr El Garhy.
Uber, Careem appeal hearing postponed to 28 April: The Supreme Administrative Court has postponed to Saturday, 28 April a hearing on an appeal by Uber and Careem of a lower court decision that ordered the two companies to suspend operations, Youm 7 reports. Meanwhile, the Administrative Court (which we mistook for the Higher Administrative Court in previous coverage) has scheduled a separate hearing for 15 May. The Court of Urgent Matters had suspended the initial ruling earlier this month, giving both companies legal breathing room to operate until a final ruling is reached.
The House Planning and Budgeting Committee is going to be busy. The committee will complete its review of the Auctions and Tenders Act by 24 April. The legislation would decentralize tender procedures and streamline the selection process for winning bids as well as set new quotas for domestic components and SME contractors. It then moves into headings on the 2018-19 state budget on 5 May,with sessions that include representatives from the ministries of finance, planning, education, health, and transport.
The Housing Committee is also expected to begin “within days” talks on amendments to the legislation governing rent control, MP Ismail Nasser Al Din tells Al Shorouk.