Egypt signs ITA
EGYPT joined the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) this week, which commits signatory countries to remove all tariff barriers to information technology (IT) products, such as personal computers and telecommunications equipment.
Beginning in 2000, most global trade in information technology products was exempted from tariffs under the ITA. 29 participants originally negotiated the ITA during the WTO's First Ministerial Conference in Singapore in December 1996. Membership has now risen to 59, who account for 95 per cent of global trade in IT products.
Petronas buys in
EDISON, Italy's second biggest power company, has chosen the bid offered by the Malaysian energy group, Petronas, to buy 50 per cent of Edison's gas assets in Egypt for $1.75 billion.
The deal, which has yet to be given the go-ahead by the Egyptian government, will have Petronas paying 92 per cent of the agreed price to Edison upon the government's authorisation, with the rest due when the sale is executed.
According to the deal, Petronas will acquire half of Edison's assets in the West Delta Deep Marine concession, which is considered the biggest offshore gas project in the Mediterranean Sea.
The company said the deal would make it one of the leading investors in the North African gas business. Petronas already exists in the Egyptian market, as it holds a 16 per cent stake in the North East Mediterranean Deep Water (NEMED) block. It is also involved in the development of the Algerian Ahnet gas project.
An Edison statement said the company would keep its presence in Egypt through its ownership of the Rosetta field and would continue carrying out exploration and production projects in the country.
The deal comes as part of Edison's plans to divest two billion euros worth of assets worldwide during the current year to cut its debts. The company's net debt stood at 6.4 billion euros at the end of 2002.
Bidders for Edison's assets included its main competitor in the Italian market, Eni.
Strong results for MobiNil
DESPITE the war and gloomy economic outlook, the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (ECMS), better known as MobiNil, reported strong results for the first quarter of 2003.
Consolidated revenues for the first quarter of 2003 rose by 29.1 per cent over the same period last year, up from LE570 million to LE736 million.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which were not expected to exceed LE345 million, reached LE392 million. This represented an increase of 39 per cent over the same period last year.
Meanwhile, consolidated net income for the quarter stood at LE154 million or LE1.54 per share, compared to LE83 million for the first quarter of 2002, an increase of 84.1 per cent.
Analysts consider these unexpected results a consequence of the increase in active subscribers. Active subscribers reached 2.4 million at the end of March 2003, an increase of 24.9 per cent over the first quarter of 2002 and seven per cent over the last quarter of the same year.
Cairo draws IT meetings
STAFF at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology are preparing for the Pan Arab Regional Conference on the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) due to be held in Cairo on 16 to 18 June 2003.
Held under the auspices of the League of Arab States, the conference will be attended by representatives of Arab governments, international organisations, the business community and all stakeholders interested in the development of communications and information technology in the region.
The conference will coincide with a meeting of the executive office of the Arab communications and information technology ministers and another of the African Telecommunications Union's Ministerial Oversight Committee also in Cairo.
The recommendations of the Pan Arab Regional Conference and the Oversight Committee will be meshed into an Arab and African unified position to be presented at the World Summit on Information Society.
The summit's first session will take place in Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003 and the second in Tunisia from 16 to 18 November 2005.
The summit's target is to develop a concrete action plan that fully reflects all the different interests at stake. A declaration of principles and a plan for action is expected to be adopted during the first session to deal with the challenges of the ever-evolving information society, especially identifying ways to close the digital gap. Development issues will be the focus of the second session, during which progress made will be evaluated and further action plans adopted.
Working with DATA
EGYPT is swiftly moving towards a new era of transparency in vital economic data. The Egyptian government has begun regular reporting of economic indicators with the assistance of the US-funded DATA (Data Access and Transmission Activity) project.
The project aims to, not only bring Egypt's economic data system up to international standards, but also to provide timely and accurate reports. These will include a monthly manufacturing index and a composite industrial production index. Information about agriculture, construction, tourism, petroleum, electricity and Suez Canal traffic will also be provided.
The DATA project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and has been a three year collaborative effort with the Ministry of Planning and the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) to improve statistical systems on national income and production.
Although the project is planned to continue until 2005, some concrete results have already been achieved. Forty computers have been supplied to different governmental bodies and over 700 employees have already been trained in information technology and statistical methods.
