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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 May 1999 Issue No. 429 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 May 1999 Issue No. 429
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Books Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Capital markets conference
ATEF EBEID, minister of the public business sector, participated in the fifth conference on Arab Capital Markets scheduled to end Friday in Beirut. The conference was organised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an affiliate of the World Bank, in cooperation with the Central Bank of Lebanon.Several Arab cabinet ministers were at the conference, held under the auspices of Lebanese Prime Minister Selim Al-Hoss. More than 500 economic and financial experts and officials representing 21 Arab countries were attending the meeting.
Ebeid was expected to discuss Egypt's privatisation and economic reform programmes and investment opportunities available in the Egyptian market.
The three-day conference focused on means of enhancing the Arab economies, investment opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa region, promoting the Arab banking industry and utilising advanced technology in banking operations.
Several workshops were held in conjunction with the conference in which economic and financial experts discussed means of managing financial and business risks in banks and financial institutions, promoting rating agencies and developing Arab trade via the Internet.
Commercial revolution
THE PEOPLE'S assembly finally passed a new commercial law last week which will allow a comprehensive revision of Egypt's commercial regulations which have been in effect since 1883.The new 772-article law has been described a revolutionary step that reflects the government's efforts to upgrade commercial practices and revamp existing economic legislation as part of the economic reform and liberalisation programme, said Ahmed Fathi Sorour, speaker of the People's Assembly. He said the law was examined by the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti to confirm that it is in line with Islamic Shari'a.
The law covers new and vital areas not addressed in existing commercial legislation such as technology transfer, air and marine transport, commercial agencies, supply, competition regulations and all banking operations, Sorour explained. It provides for the adoption of modern communication methods in commercial dealings, such as the fax, in an attempt to simplify and save time, he added.
The law, which was debated in 22 sessions of the parliament, devotes more than 60 articles to upgrading cheque-based operations, the most important change being an end to the use of post-dated cheques. The law dictates that cheques must be issued by banks and be covered by a bank deposit from which money can be withdrawn at any time.
Citröen in Egypt
CITROEN, the French automobile manufacturer, signed a contract last week with Egypt's Alpha Auto Company under which the Egyptian firm won a licence to assemble the former's XSARA model in a $21 million joint investment deal. Citröen will bring its expertise and technology to the project.Michel Bricout, director of Citröen's international division in the Paris region, said "It is very important for us to increase our presence in the Egyptian market since it is considered to be the second biggest African automobile market after South Africa." Citröen hopes to export to the Gulf and African countries once it meets demand in the Egyptian market, Bricout added.
Under the contract, the assembly plant will begin production by January 2000 and is expected to produce 1,500 units in the first year, to be increased to 2,500 units the following year.
The local content of the assembled cars will be 43 per cent which is expected to increase to 48 per cent by the end of the first year of production. The Egyptian company is planning to open three service and maintenance centres next July to be increased to nine centres during the year 2000.
Alpha Auto will not be building its own factory but instead will make use of the unused production capacity available in the Egyptian market, according to Mohamed Thabet, chief executive officer of Alpha Auto. "It is not economical to build a new factory due to the low production capacity in the next two years. Instead, we signed an agreement with the Arab Organisation for Industrialisation (AOI) for the assembly of the XSARA model in its factories," Thabet said.
"Decisions on whether to assemble other Citröen models in Egypt have not yet been reached. For the time being, the rest of Citröen's production line will be exported to Egypt since demand in the Egyptian market is not high enough to justify local assembly," Bricout said.
The deal for the XSARA model was signed on the fringes of FranceExpo '99, the largest trade fair France has ever staged in the Middle East market, which was inaugurated by French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin during his visit to Cairo last week.
Citröen joins Egypt's growing automobile assembly industry which already involves similar deals with other foreign partners such as Peugeot, Fiat, Hyundai, Nissan, Mercedes and BMW. Such ventures assembled a total of 25,000 cars in Egypt in 1997, Citröen officials said.
E-business conference
THE DYNAMICS of conducting business electronically will be in the spotlight in Cairo this month at a full day Comdex Egypt '99 conference devoted to E-commerce.The conference will be held at the Cairo International Conference Centre (CICC) on the sidelines of Comdex Egypt '99, the 2nd Business Computing, Internet and Networking Exhibition scheduled to begin today.
The E-commerce seminar, made up of two sessions, is sponsored by technology giant IBM which describes E-commerce as a vital growth sector in business.
Seminar delegates will explore issues of information security for E-commerce, and will examine a practical approach to the development of Arabic trade via the Internet.
