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Wednesday, 24 October 2018

Fruit and vegetable prices are up, TVs are getting cheaper, life is returning to normal in North Sinai

As has been the case of late, there’s no one thing on the mind of the nation’s talk show hosts.

** #4 Fruit and vegetable prices have spiked recently, Domestic Trade Authority Chairman Ibrahim El Ashmawy told Hona Al Asema. He blamed the increase on the nation’s poor logistics network, which he says plays a role in ensuring staple commodities are available at stable prices (watch, runtime: 7:26). The Supply Ministry has been looking to collaborate with the private sector to build logistics centers and was said to have issued a tender last August to build 27 new facilities across the country, starting in Upper Egypt. The Farmer Syndicate’s Hussein Abdel Rahman blamed a sharp rise in potato prices on some farmers’ monopolistic practices (watch, runtime: 3:06).

Televisions, though, should be getting cheaper. Custom duties on TV sets have been slashed by 20%, which should help reduce their prices in the coming period, Customs Authority boss El Sayed Negm told Amr Adib on El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 1:02). Negm and Adib also chatted about electric vehicles being exempt from import duties (watch, runtime: 2:59) and the zero-tariff policy on EU cars that is expected to come into effect in January 2019 (watch, runtime: 4:22).

On the whole electric vehicles being customs exempt: We spoke with a couple of guys who are both very smart and very big players in the field. They reminded us that the new “zero customs duties” on electric vehicles isn’t … new. “There are no duties now on electric vehicles because there were never duties on electric vehicles,” one said.

Tanzania’s USD 3 bn hydroelectric dam will take up to four years to construct, according to El Sewedy Electric CEO Ahmed Elsewedy. Construction on the project, for which Arab Contractors won the mandate, is expected to start in five months’ time. Some 1,000-2,000 Egyptian laborers will be going to Tanzania to work on the dam, he added (watch, runtime: 3:39).

State Information Service head Diaa Rashwan was still on the air last night defending Egypt against allegations of organ theft. Rashwan once again confirmed that organs belonging to a British tourist who died in Egypt were not “missing,” as UK news outlets alleged, but were removed as part of an autopsy and would be returned to his family (watch, runtime: 5:14).

Life is slowly returning to normal in North Sinai, with schools and universities opening their doors to students, Governor Mohamed Shousha told Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary. He explained that security is now under control in the area, to a large extent, and said that he expects the governorate to be safe and violence-free by the end of 2018 (watch, runtime: 10:57).

The Coptic Church has four months to legalize the status of some 120 buildings, as per new legislation, Rev. Mikhail Anton told Hona Al Asema (watch, runtime: 4:57).

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