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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 February 2000 Issue No. 468 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 February 2000 Issue No. 468
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Profile Travel Books Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters
End in sight
AFTER years of waiting, those who thought they had lost deposits in money investment companies receive good news, writes Mona El-Fiqi. The government has anounced that tens of thousands of depositors owed millions of pounds are to be repaid a balance of the sum, with the remainder to be repaid over a period of five years.The debts date from the mid-eighties, when money investment companies were established to channel savings into investment projects. But when the government issued directives restricting the activities of such companies, they defaulted on repayments to some 61,000 depositors.
In an attempt to reimburse depositors in 11 money investment companies the government has announced that their assets -- estimated at LE400 million -- will be placed under the jurisdiction of the Public Enterprise Ministry in preparation for their sale.
Prime Minister Atef Ebeid revealed that the government would foot any difference between the assets of the companies, and their debts, which in the case of Al-Rayan alone could amount to LE740 million.
The cabinet decision stipulates that depositors will be repaid 10 per cent of their losses in cash next March, with the remaining 90 per cent to be repaid via five year deposits at the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr which can be used as guarantees for loans during the interim period.
The government's decision, which has come after the previous cabinet had virtually closed the file -- has been well received by creditors.
"It is certainly good news," says Zeinab Niazi, who placed an LE 47,000 deposit with one of the companies. "We had lost hope of getting our money back when the former government declared the issue closed after repaying depositors only 35 per cent of their deposits."
Since 1986 Niazi, along with two other family members, have received only 25 per cent of total deposits of LE200,000.
German cooperation
EGYPT and Germany concluded two agreements covering technical and financial cooperation last week.According to the first agreement, signed by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ahmed El-Dersh and Germany's Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Heide Marie Wieczorek-Zeul, the German government will provide 261.5 million German marks, of which 169.5 million will be in the form of a soft loan and 92 million in grant form.
According to the second agreement, some 148 million marks which Egypt has already received will be re-allocated in line with current government priorities. The sum was provided partially as a grant, partially as a soft loan.
According to Wieczorek-Zeul, the annual volume of German exports to Egypt is 3.4 billion marks, while Egyptian exports to Germany stand at 0.5 billion marks.
Wieczorek-Zeul, speaking to the German Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce, pointed out that Egypt ranks second to India as a recipient of German grants and soft loans.
The German minister revealed that she had discussed the establishment of an Egyptian-German business council with Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and had invited Egyptian companies to participate in Expo 2000, Germany's leading international exhibition.
Health ties
DANISH Health Minister Carsten Koch headed a 20-businessman delegation to Cairo recently. The delegation -- whose members all work in the health field -- were here to participate in the "Arab Health 2000" Conference for Hospitals, Medical Equipment and Services held at the Cairo International Conference Centre."Danish companies are looking forward to establishing and developing contacts with the Egyptian health sector and the Egyptian companies supplying this sector with its needs," Koch was quoted as saying.
Koch added that the Egyptian medical services and equipment market has developed greatly in the past few years -- a motivating factor for international companies to enter this market. A number of large Danish health companies are already established in Egypt, as well as numerous small and medium-sized companies supplying products for hospitals, clinics and health care centres.
Dial XXX
EGYPT Telecom (ET), along with 22 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across the nation, are offering a new service allowing users to connect to the Internet without subscribing, reports Amira Howeidy.The new service aims at expanding the number of Internet users to one million in five years, said an ET official. In Touch, the oldest ISP in Egypt, was the first to introduce the new service last December. Others quickly followed and ET, which is currently undergoing administrative reforms, finally announced in a newspaper advertisement last week that users "can access the internet without subscribing. Dial 09080XXX, ... XXX is the ISP. Twenty piasters per minute from 8:00 AM to 12:00 midnight, fifteen piasters per minute from 12:00 midnight to 8:00 AM." Whether or not ET realised that XXX means nothing to potential users or their computers, it has been wise enough include two "inquiry" numbers in the ad. Upon inquiring, users are given several numbers to dial and the good news is that it works.
"The service primarily addresses travellers, newcomers or occasional users," Azza Turk of ET told Al-AhramWeekly. "We also believe that this service will encourage others to explore the Internet and eventually become regular users."
The service is currently available in Cairo, Alexandria, Assiut and Port Said. ET officials say they are working on expanding it nationwide, via existing ISPs who benefit from a 50 per cent revenue-share in the service.
In a second initiative aimed at boosting Internet use Link Egypt, a local ISP, said last week it would be joining Compaq Computer Corp, Microsoft and Citibank's Citigroup. The companies, along with Goldi, will offer users a cheap monthly package deal including a new personal computer with Microsoft's Windows software and with internet access supplied by Link. The available dial-up numbers are: 09080-001/000/222/333/444/999/908
Keeping posted
AHMED Nazif, minister of telecommunications and information, unveiled new plans for the telecommunications sector to members of the Egyptian Businessmen Association (EBA) this week.He revealed that when the exclusivity clauses awarded to the two GSM networks currently operating in the Egyptian market end, Egypt Telecom is likely to be awarded a third license, reports Niveen Wahish.
"The company was ill-advised not to keep a license for itself in the first place," said Nazif, explaining that no telecommunications company is going to be able to survive in the future on the revenue of fixed-line services only. And since a percentage of the company is scheduled to be sold on the stock exchange within a couple of months, "we cannot deny them (the new owners) the right to enter the mobile market."
The minister also issued an invitation to businessmen to come forward with any ideas for upgrading the National Post Authority, which is affiliated to the ministry. The authority, he stressed, enjoys full autonomy and offers a wide range of services. "There are, also," he pointed out, "LE8.6 billion worth of savings in post office savings accounts," while 2.4 million individuals cash their pensions at the post office every month.
Despite the fact that the authority subsidises many basic services -- to send a local letter, for example, costs LE0.20, though its actual cost is almost four times as much -- it still "breaks even" according to the minister, leaving plenty of scope for the innovation of new, revenue-generating services.
