Al-Ahram Weekly | Economy | Government business

		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 December 2000 Issue No.513
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Government business

THE AMERICAN Council For Foreign Relations sent a delegation to Egypt to meet with Minister of Economy Youssef Boutros Ghali. Egyptian exports to the United States reached US$654.5 million during the first nine months of 2000, said Ghali. This figure represents a 43 per cent increase over last year. The delegation included representatives from headquarters of American companies operating in Egypt in the fields of petroleum, natural gas and construction.
THE NORTH-WEST coast of the Gulf Of Suez will be provided with Nile River water in a project which will be implemented by SNC, a Canadian company specialised in water supply projects. The LE250 million project is expected to take two years to implement.
FUNDING for urgent projects in rural and low-income districts will be provided in the next few months, said Prime Minister Atef Ebeid. LE6 billion will be used for utilities, services and infrastructure projects in over 200 villages and low-income districts.
NEW livestock suppliers are currently being sought following the imposition of a four-week ban starting 27 November on importing livestock from Western Europe. The General Authority for Veterinary Services is currently considering importing livestock from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Sudan.
THE CHAMBER Of Printing Industries and the taxation bureau will form a joint committee to resolve outstanding problems between the two parties. Head of the chamber, Ahmed Atef, says the formation of similar committees is being negotiated between the taxation bureau and other industrial chambers.
EGYPT'S local debt is equivalent to 54 per cent of its GDP, Prime Minister Atef Ebeid said. He added that this is economically safe and that in some countries local debt reaches 110 per cent of GDP.
Ebeid said that most of these funds were used to restructure the state's administrative apparatus and upgrade its infrastructure.

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