Briefs

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Rosy prospects for steel and cement

RACHID Mohamed Rachid, minister of trade and industry, announced that the ministry is soon expected to approve the establishment of 14 new factories for producing cement with a capacity of 21 million tonnes annually, and is considering the approval of four new steel factories with a capacity of eight million tonnes annually to cover local market needs, as well as to allow export growth.

Rachid added that the ministry has a plan for the energy prices of these factories, which are heavy users of power. The plan is expected to be discussed with the Higher Council for Energy next week. The proposal includes a gradual increase in energy prices to reach cost price within two years, while maintaining the competitiveness of Egyptian products in international markets.

A recent report issued by the Internal Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry said that the production of steel during the past three months increased by 19,000 tonnes since March to reach 346,000 tonnes in June 2007.

As for steel prices, the report said that the sales price fell by LE70 from LE3700 in March 2007 to LE3630 per tonne.

The report explained that the reason behind this reduction of steel prices was the decrease in the price of belet used in manufacturing steel products from $580 to $500 per tonne.

Keeping ahead of IT

MICROSOFT Egypt recently announced the graduation of the fifth class of the Microsoft Partners Academy, one of the leading initiatives launched in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology four years ago. The academy mainly aims at developing the skills of the staff of Microsoft's Egyptian partners in order to enable them to compete in regional markets, according to Microsoft Egypt general manager, Karim Ramadan. Some 92 trainees have graduated from the academy, representing 24 different Egyptian companies. Ten companies received management training, ten other companies received sales training, 16 companies received infrastructure technology training, and nine companies received developing technologies training.

Microsoft Egypt inaugurated the sixth round of the Microsoft Partners Academy advanced training courses. This round will include, for the first time, a number of advanced workshops in Higher Management, Management, Technology, Sales Operations and Technical Consultation taught by Microsoft's international experts. The number of subscribers for the sixth round is 90 trainees so far, in addition to board chairmen and CEOs participating in this round.

"The company was keen on participating effectively in initiatives that aim at pushing forward the local IT industry and economy in general," said Ramadan, adding that the Microsoft Partner Academy is one of the most effective tools used in serving this cause especially considering that the academy graduates are trained in the most advanced international techniques which will be useful to the local IT market.

Sayed Hashish, Microsoft Egypt Sales and Partners department manager, commented that the academy has become a notable presence in the Egyptian IT community in a short time, and had proved its effective role in the market, especially given the international level of training it offers. This has become obvious with the increasing number of applicants in all fields offered by the academy. Course material and techniques are also developed each year in order to guarantee that the academy is offering the latest information for its trainees, stressing Microsoft's commitment to support the Egyptian IT industry, Hashish added.

In addition to the traditional training programs, the academy will, starting this year, offer pre-operational sessions for all Microsoft partners to tackle areas related to work in IT, including market strategies, software licencing information, and software insurance, in addition to familiarity with Microsoft's latest products.