Internet Investment Guide

INVESTORS interested in putting their money in any of the EU's 12 Mediterranean partners can expect to find their way around the investment laws and regulations of these countries more easily in the future, after the Internet-based Mediterranean Investor's Guide is created.

The project, approved by the European Commission and signed by Egypt's General Authority for Investment earlier this week, will facilitate access to relevant investment-related information. It will implement a Web site for organisations which already publish or wish to publish Internet-based investor's guides, while providing financial and technical support.

The project will allow potential investors to have access to the most recent data concerning the investment conditions and opportunities in the different countries of the MEDA area which encompasses Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Cyprus and Malta. It will also allow fast and easy access to the given information, without complex and diverse navigation through various guides.

In each country a national focal point will become a source of information and build a network of national partners which produce and update the relevant data.

Each focal point of the 12 MEDA countries will appoint a team of experts, which are to work together under the monitoring of a support team appointed by the EC. From 2006 onwards, once the project is up and running, the responsibility will be handed over to the local focal points. At that stage it is expected that the local focal points will collectively ensure the sustainability of the portal.

Arab gas project

EGYPT signed contracts earlier this week with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan for the construction of the second phase of the Arab Gas pipeline project, originally signed in 2001, through which Egypt will export liquefied gas to the other three countries for the next 90 years.

This phase of the project covers a 393 kilometre pipeline from the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba to the Rihab power station in northern Jordan. The expected capacity of the pipeline is 353 billion cubic feet annually.

The first phase of the project from Egypt to Aqaba was inaugurated in July. The coming phases of the project include extending pipelines to the Syrian port of Banias and the Lebanese refinery of Zahrani in 2005. There are plans for the pipeline to continue to Turkey and ultimately link up with Europe.

Egypt has potential natural gas reserves of 70 trillion cubic feet.

Breaking down tariff barriers

A PRESIDENTIAL decree issued last week cut tariffs on some 700 items. The decision exempted capital goods and spare parts as well as production inputs, especially those used in the spinning and weaving industries, from customs duties.

The government also changed the prohibitive specific duties imposed on apparel in mid-2001 to a 40 per cent rate which comes in line with its WTO schedule of commitments. The previous rates on apparel, implemented in July 2001, exceeded 100 per cent, which acted as an effective substitute to an outright importation ban.

Moreover, the government lowered the customs duties on certain computer components from 30 per cent to only 2 per cent to encourage the IT industry. The new duties became effective on Wednesday 21 January.

OCI to build ET's new facilities

EASTERN Tobacco (ET), Egypt's sole producer of tobacco products, has awarded Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) a contract worth LE246 million to build the first phase of its new facilities in Sixth of October City.

The contract is a part of ET's relocation plan to centralise activities in a new industrial complex in Sixth of October City to increase its current production capacity. Currently, ET operates a second shift due to the limited capacity in its current facilities. The relocation project should be completed by 2007-08.

This primary phase is expected to be completed in 14 months. The total cost of relocation is estimated at approximately LE900 million, of which almost LE200 million will be invested in purchasing and developing the land.

According to a commentary by EFG-Hermes, Egypt's leading investment bank, the new contract will add LE246 million to OCI's backlog which stood at LE2.9 billion in September 2003.