Food fair

SOME 50 Egyptian companies took part in the Anuga international food and beverage fair, which ended Wednesday in Cologne, Germany. Egypt has taken part in this exhibition for the last decade, this year displaying products ranging from milk, sweets and fruits to baby and children's foods.

Germany, the fourth largest food importer in the world after the US, Japan and China, holds great potential for Egyptian agricultural and food exports. According to Ali El-Saied, assistant director of marketing information at the Agriculture Led Export Business (ALEB), a USAID- funded project supporting export-oriented farming projects, the high year-round demand for agricultural products makes Germany an especially lucrative export market. Germany's weather conditions and paucity of farmland limit its local agricultural potential. As a result, Germany imports $69.2 billion of agricultural products annually.

Speaking at a workshop jointly organised by ALEB and the German Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GACCI), El-Saied said that foremost among commodities for export to the German market are strawberries and grapes. Germany is also a large importer of herbs and spices, being the second largest market after the US. El- Saied also said that Egyptian fruit juice could potentially take a sizeable share of the German market.

Bassant Helmi, who heads the GACCI office in Berlin, said that Egyptian exporters need to improve their labelling and packaging to promote their products. She also recommended that exporters carry out marketing campaigns in Germany to familiarise consumers with their brand names.

Smart move

ARAB African International Bank (AAIB) and Visa International Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) last week celebrated their successful completion of the first comprehensive smart technology network in Egypt. In a press conference held on 28 September, the Visa International CEMEA President Anne L Cobb handed AAIB Vice Chairman and Managing Director Hassan Abdallah a certificate documenting the successful chip transaction and congratulating the bank on issuing Egypt's first full-option Visa Smart Credit Debit Chip Card.

The AAIB and Visa International joined forces to set up a comprehensive system for issuing smart cards, while also upgrading terminals to enable merchants to accept credit and debit smart transactions. Arab African International Bank has already issued 1,100 full-option Visa smart cards as of June 2003.

Investment summit

FOR THE first time, this December Egypt will host the International Investment and Trade Summit. The event is designed to allow international investors to meet face-to- face with Egyptian partners to discuss the investment climate and new government-led investment initiatives, among other issues.

"Attracting foreign investments is a preoccupation of every country, not only Egypt. Our main task during the event is to recruit, match-make and gather potential and current investors with business opportunities and to provide a platform for both decision-makers and businessmen to meet and discuss new investment policies," said Dan Morrissy from the International Event Partners (IEP), a 10-year-old, London-based company which has organised similar events in a number of countries including Iran and Russia.

The event is expected to bring together government officials, non-governmental organisations, multi-lateral donors, business associations, chambers of commerce, investment banks and credit agencies as well as venture capitalists. "We hope to encourage closer collaboration between the public and private sector, financial institutions and aid donors and to highlight the new investment opportunities in the Egyptian market," said Brigitte Lundebye of IEP.

Numerous factors played into the selection of Egypt as the host country. According to Lundebye, Egypt occupies an excellent geographical location, straddling the gateway to Africa and the Middle East, with easy access to Europe as well. Egypt also has a large, under-utilised labour market, a sound business climate and a high educational level offering rich human resources capital. The market is large and stable, with a pervasive Western attitude to business. "Moreover, Egypt is engaged in trade agreements with almost all nations around the world," said Lundebye.

Among the topics to be discussed are the investment climate in Egypt, banking and finance, privatisation, mergers and acquisitions. The most problematic issues for foreign investors considering Egypt as an option involve the corporate tax and customs system, reforming the bloated bureaucracy, protecting investors' rights, and the vagaries of how to do business in Egypt.

TE buying one-fourth of Vodafone

TELECOM Egypt (TE) is seeking to acquire a 25 per cent share in Vodafone-Egypt, a major mobile phone operator. The company has already reached an agreement to purchase 16.9 per cent of Vodafone Group's 67 per cent shares in the company cutting Vodafone Group's shares down to 50.1 per cent, still a controlling stake. TE hopes to buy an additional eight per cent stake from assorted Vodafone-Egypt shareholders such as Banque Du Caire, Alkan Group, Mobile Systems International and EFG- Hermes.

TE management had said earlier this year that it intends to explore the option of buying into one of the two existing mobile phone companies, following the announcement that it would be delaying the launch of its own mobile phone operator. The economic slowdown, coupled with the inability of TE to find a strategic partner, had rendered the establishment of TE's mobile operator unfeasible for the time being. Should TE choose to refrain from setting up a third mobile operator for the next five years, it will receive a LE2 billion payment from the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (ECMS) and Vodafone-Egypt.