What we’re tracking on 04 December 2018
The central bank’s parallel FX repatriation mechanism ends today for new portfolio investments. “The decision applies on any fresh foreign currency portfolio investments wishing to enter the local currency Egyptian T-Bills, T-Bonds market and the stocks listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange,” the CBE said in a statement (pdf) last week. Anyone who came into the country under the system prior to today will still be able to exit via the mechanism.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is in town for an “important announcement,” the global leader in the ride-hailing space has said. We’ll have more tomorrow.
Also in town: An Irish business delegation in town led by Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection Pat Breen. The 12 companies are here today and tomorrow to explore potential investments (pdf).
Egypt’s first defense expo continues today and wraps up tomorrow. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi inaugurated the EDEX 2018 yesterday (see statements from the presidency or the armed forces). El Sisi and Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki have jointly or separately met with senior defense officials from Cyprus, Greece and France, among other countries.
The US has the largest presence at EDEX, with some 40 companies present (pdf) participating, including senior execs from corporate headquarters, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Caterpillar, and AM General.
Egypt Automotive summit kicks off: Trade and Industry Minister Amr Nassar and Enterprise Minister Hisham Tawfik will inaugurate today the fifth annual Egypt Automotive summit, local news reported. Electric vehicles are a theme at the summit, which says it will focus on the nation’s strategy for the automotive industry and aim to attract investment to the Suez Canal Economic Zone.