Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 16 - 22 November 2000 Issue No.508
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Gas liquefying plant

THE EGYPTIAN General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Shell International Gas Limited have signed a development protocol for a 75,000 barrel-a-day gas-to-liquid (GtT) conversion plant, which will convert Egypt's natural gas into environmentally-friendly fuels, reports Sherine Nasr. The project will be a joint venture between Shell and EGPC. The plant is expected to become commercially operational by mid-2004.

"This is one of the most strategically significant pro-ects in Egypt, and the government will provide the necessary support to make it successful," said Sameh Fahmi, minister of Petroleum.

The total direct investment in the project is $1.7 bil-ion, and it is expected to employ some 600 Egyptians. During construction of the site, around 5,000 workers will be required.

"This investment commitment by Shell is an im-ortant addition to our ever-growing investment in the country," commented Roger Patey, Shell Egypt chair-an.

The proposed Shell project consists of a combined site on which both Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Middle Distillate Synthesis (MDS) plants will be constructed. The MDS will help produce a great deal of kerosene and diesel.

"Significant reductions in costs can be achieved by putting these two development projects on one site. Presently, West Damietta is the proposed location," said Charles Watson, a director of Shell.

Moreover, the GtL component of the project will provide oil by-products which the country is currently importing, to the extent that it may even satisfy local demand for them.

According to studies conducted by Shell, Egypt's potential gas reserves could satisfy the local market for more than 50 years.

"GtL offers the possibility of utilising this abundant natural resource to meet the immediate needs of the country, which will contribute to economic growth and be an important source of hard currency," said Watson.

Shell is the largest private LNG company worldwide, with projects in Brunei, Australia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Oman accounting for around 30m tons of a total world-wide trade of 93m tons of liquefied natural gas in 1999.

Italian cooperation

THE ITALIAN Centre for the Internalisation of En-erprises and the Promotion of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Euro-Mediterranean Area (CIEM) recently sponsored a three-day workshop for Egyptian and Italian companies.

"Ten Italian companies from Med-Europe Export participated in the workshop, which covered phar-aceuticals, construction, IT and energy sources," said Vincenzo Valenti, director of CIEM.

Italian businessmen to the delegation met repre-entatives from 30 Egyptian companies specialising in construction and textiles.

"We have signed an agreement with CIEM to coop-rate in promoting small- and medium-industries," an-ounced Adel Gezarin, chairman of the Italian-Egyptian business council and a member of the Egyp-ian Businessmen's Association. "Our aim is to find Italian companies who have already studied previous ventures in Egypt and wish to establish serious projects.

Italian textile manufacturers on the delegation con-racted Egyptian businessmen to establish a factory in Borg El-Arab. Discussions also took place regarding the possible setting up of joint- ventures in wood products.

New skills on the market

THE FIRST two groups to receive the specialised training offered by the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Tech-ology on telecommunications networks grad-ated this week. The 66 graduates received a 24-week training at the National Tele-ommunications Institute (NTI) at the hands of engineers from Ericsson and Lucent Tech-ologies, two leading international tele-ommunications companies

This training programme is part of the na-ional telecommunications and information technology plan to train and prepare cadres for the IT sector. The training programme is a joint effort between the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology and international companies. The ministry has provided the equipment and laboratories through the NTI, while the tele-ommunications companies provided the trainers, the curriculum for the training and any additional specialised equipment which may be needed.

Those who took part in the training included new graduate engineers, graduates from pre-ious years who are unemployed or are look-ng to improve their careers and need rehabilitation to meet the needs of market. They also include graduates of previous years currently employed in government companies or with the public sector to enable them to ac-uire new skills.

Euro tourism

PRIME Minister Atef Ebeid held a meeting with Minister of Tourism, Mamdouh El-Beltagui, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Ismail Hassan and representatives of the tourism industry to discuss ways of deal-ng with travellers coming from Europe in view of the unstable foreign currency mar-ets.

It was decided that travellers arriving from Europe will be allowed to use differ-nt European currencies including the euro (which will be in circulation in banknote form next January), in addition to the US dollar. It was also agreed that, given the ex-ensive tourist programmes sold abroad, tourists should be tempted with value-for-money local attractions, as is the case in other favourite tourist destinations like the Canary Islands and Turkey.

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