A series of International Monetary Fund arrangements, coupled with massive external debt relief resulting from Egypt's participation in the Gulf War coalition, helped Egypt improve its macroeconomic performance during the 1990s. Through sound fiscal and monetary policies, the Government of Egypt tamed inflation, slashed budget deficits, and built up foreign reserves. Although the pace of structural reforms, such as privatization and new business legislation, has been slower than the IMF envisioned, Egypt's steps toward a more market-oriented economy have prompted increased foreign investment. Lower combined hard currency inflows - from tourism, worker remittances, oil revenues, and Suez Canal tolls - in late 1990s resulted in pressure on the Egyptian pound and sporadic dollar shortages, but external payments were not in crisis. Egypt has long been the cultural and informational centre of the Arab world, and Cairo is the regions largest publishing and broadcasting centre. ... The Culture of Egypt has five thousand years of recorded history. ... Egypt is the most populous country in the Middle East and the second-most populous on the African continent. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Politics of Egypt takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential republic, whereby the President of Egypt is de facto both head of state and head of government, and of a party system dominated by the National Democratic Party. ... “IMF” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Suez (disambiguation). ...

At the turn of the millennium, monetary pressures have eased, however, with the continued oil price rise since 2002, increased natural gas exploration and production and a moderate rebound in tourism. ^[1] Egypt's reform record has substantially improved since Nazif government came to power. Egypt has made substantial progress in developing its legal, tax and investment infrastructure. The reform programme is still a work in progress. For other uses, see Natural gas (disambiguation). ... Dr. Ahmed Nazif (Arabic: أحمد نظيف ) (born July 8, 1952 in Alexandria) has served as the Prime Minister of Egypt since 14 July 2004. ...

Macroeconomic trend

Egypt has a stable economy in the Middle East and North Africa enjoying continuous growth, averaging 4%-5% in the past quarter-a-century. The economy embarked on various stages during which the public and private sectors played roles varying in relative importance:

• Import Substitution and Nationalization, 1952-1967, during which the first program of industrialization in 1957 was established and led by the public sector in heavy industries such as iron and steel and chemical industries, and the nationalization which receded the relative importance of the private sector.

• Inter-war, 1967-1973, adversely affected the performance of the economy and public sector role in import substitution.

• Openness Euphoria, 1974 - 1981 during which policies were introduced to encourage Arab and foreign investment through a series of incentives and liberalizing trade and payment; the economy expanded but this proved unsustainable and growth consequently scaled back.

• External Debt Crisis, 1982-1990, the external debt crisis and Paris Club re-scheduling and debt reduction.

• Economic Reform, 1991-2007, reform policies were introduced under the terms of International Institutions, lenders and donors, including wider incentives to the role of the private sector in all economic activities.

Under comprehensive economic reforms initiated in 1991, Egypt has relaxed many price controls, reduced subsidies, reduced inflation, cut taxes, and partially liberalized trade and investment. Manufacturing become less dominated by the public sector, especially in heavy industries. A process of public sector reform and privatization has begun to enhance opportunities for the private sector. Agriculture, mainly in private hands, has been largely deregulated, with the exception of cotton and sugar production. Construction, non-financial services, and domestic wholesale and retail trades are largely private. This has promoted a steady increase of GDP and the annual growth rate. The Government of Egypt tamed inflation bringing it down from double-digit to a single digit. Currently, GDP is rising smartly by 7% per annum due to successful diversification. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... In economics, incomes policies are wage and price controls used to fight inflation. ... Invest redirects here. ... Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, making by hand) is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale. ... < [[[[math>Insert formula here</math>The public sector is that part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the [[government </math></math></math></math> Direct administration funded through taxation; the delivering organisation generally has no specific requirement to meet commercial... The private sector of a nations economy consists of all that is outside the state. ... See economic growth Growth rate (group theory) Population growth rate This is a disambiguation page &#8212; a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Among Arab countries, Egypt's GDP has been for long second only to Saudi Arabia's but stepped back in 2003 to third after Saudi Arabi and United Arab Emirates, and since 2004 to fourth after Saudi Arabi, United Arab Emirates and Algeria. However, the Egyptian economy relies heavily on tourist revenues. The tourism sector suffered tremendously following wicked terrorist attacks on tourists in Luxor in October 1997, Sharm al-Sheikh in July 2005, and the town of Dahab in Red Sea resort in April 2006. Moreover, the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, affected the economy as a whole too. “Tourist” redirects here. ... Luxor on Nile, at Luxor Temple with mosque. ... Sharm el-Sheikh is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, on the coastal strip between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai. ... Evening in Dahab on the Gulf of Aqaba. ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly...

Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) increased fourfold between 1981 and 2006, from US$ 1355 in 1981, to US$ 2525 in 1991, to US$ 3686 in 2001 and to an estimated US$ 4535 in 2006. Based on national currency, GDP per capita at constant 1999 prices increased from EGP 411 in 1981, to EGP 2098 in 1991, to EGP 5493 in 2001 and to EGP 8708 in 2006. Based on the current US$ prices, GDP per capita increased from US$ 587 in 1981, to US$ 869 in 1991, to US$ 1461 in 2001 and to an estimated US$ 1518 (which translates to less than US$ 130 per month) in 2006. According to the World Bank Country Classification, Egypt has been promoted from the low income category to lower middle income category. ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ...

The reform programme is a work in progress. Noteworthy that the reform record has substantially improved since Nazif government came to power. Egypt has made substantial progress in developing its legal, tax and investment infrastructure. (See Nawar 2006) Indeed, over the past 5 years, Egypt has passed, amended and admitted over 15 legislative pieces. The economy is expected to grow by about 7.5% in 2007/2008. Energy subsidies, and privatization of state-owned banks -- Alexandria and Cairo-- perhaps, are the most controversial economic issues in 2006/2007 - 2007/2008.

External trade

Egyptian exports in 2006

Egypt's trade balance marked US$-10.36 billion FY2005 compared to US$ -7.83 billion Egypt's main exports consist of natural gas, and non-petroleum products such as ready-made clothes, cotton textiles, medical and petrochemical products, citrus fruits, rice and dried onion, and more recently cement, steel, and ceramics. Egypt's main imports consist of pharmaceuticals and non-petroleum products such as wheat, maize, cars and cars'spare parts. The current account of the balance of payments grew from 0.7% of GDP in FY2002 to 3.3% at FY2005. Egypt's Balance of Payments made a surplus of US$4478 million in FY2005 compared to a deficit of US$158 million in FY2004. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 351 pixelsFull resolution (1425 × 625 pixel, file size: 61 KB, MIME type: image/png) This bubble map shows the global distribution of Egyptian exports in 2006 as a percentage of the top market (Italy - $2,496,220,000). ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 351 pixelsFull resolution (1425 × 625 pixel, file size: 61 KB, MIME type: image/png) This bubble map shows the global distribution of Egyptian exports in 2006 as a percentage of the top market (Italy - $2,496,220,000). ...

Italy and the USA are the top export markets for Egyptian goods and services.

Public finances

To Be Completed Soon

The financial sector

Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy

Monetary Policy

There have been several favorable conditions that allowed the Central Bank of Egypt to accumulate net international reserves, which increased from US$ 20 in FY2005 to US$23 in FY2006, contributing to growth in both reserve money and in broad money (M2). This is the article for Egypts central bank; for Bank of Egypt please see Banque Misr The Central Bank of Egypt is the central bank of Egypt. ...

Credit extended to the private sector in Egypt declined significantly reaching about EGP 5 billion in FY2005. This credit crunch is due to the non-performing loans extended by the banks to business tycoons and top government officials. A credit crunch is a recessionary period in a debt-based monetary system where growth in debt money has slowed and subsequently causes a drying up of liquidity in an economy. ...

Lending criteria have been tightened following the passing of Money Laundry Law 80 in 2002 and Banking Law 88 in 2003. Interest rates are no longer the dominant factor in banks' lending decisions. In fact, both the inefficiency and absence of the role of the Central Bank of Egypt in qualitative and quantitative control as well as implementing banking procedures and standards was almost entirely resopnsible for the non-performing loans crisis. Banks steadily reduced credit from its peak of about EGP 30 billion in FY1999 and alternatively invested in more liquid no-risk securities such as treasury bills and government bonds. This is the article for Egypts central bank; for Bank of Egypt please see Banque Misr The Central Bank of Egypt is the central bank of Egypt. ...

Improving private sector access to credit will critically depend on resolving the problem of non-performing loans with businesses and top government officials.

Exchange Rate Policy

The Egyptian Pound has been linked to US Dollar since the fifties of the 20th century. Several regimes were adopted including initially the conventional peg in the sixties, regular crawling peg in the seventies and the eighties and crawling bands in the nineties. Over that time period, there were several exchange rate markets including black market, parallel market and the official market. With the turn of the new millennium, Egypt introduced a managed float regime and successfully unified the Pound exchange rate vis-à-visforeign currencies.

The transition to the unified exchange rate regime was completed in December 2004. Shortly later, Egypt has notified the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it has accepted the obligations of Article VIII, Section 2, 3, and 4 of the IMF Articles of Agreement, with effect from January 2, 2005. IMF members accepting the obligations of Article VIII undertake to refrain from imposing restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions, or from engaging in discriminatory currency arrangements or multiple currency practices, except with IMF approval. By accepting the obligations of Article VIII, Egypt gives assurance to the international community that it will pursue economic policies that will not impose restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions unnecessary, and will contribute to a multilateral payments system free of restrictions. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (816x448, 62 KB) [[:Image:]] File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Economy of Egypt ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (816x448, 62 KB) [[:Image:]] File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Economy of Egypt ...

In the fiscal year 2004 and over most of the fiscal year 2005, the pound depreciated against the US Dollar. Since the second half of the fiscal year 2006 until the end of the fiscal year 2007, the pound graduallay appreciated to EGP 5.69 per USD. It is likely to remain close to this appreciated level in the short-term.

External Debt

Gross external debt of Egypt, including the total public and private debt owed to non-residents repayable in foreign currency, goods, or services -- based on The World Factbook -- is estimated at US$29,590 million at the end of FY2006. The World Factbook 2007 (government edition) cover. ...

Natural Resources

Land, Agriculture and Crops

Warm weather and plentiful water permit several crops a year. Land is worked intensively and yields are high. Cotton, rice, wheat, corn, sugarcane, sugar beets, onions, and beans are the principal crops. Increasingly, a few modern techniques are applied to producing fruits, vegetables and flowers, in addition to cotton, for export. Further improvement is possible. The most common traditional farms occupy one acre (4,000 m²) each, typically in a canal-irrigated area along the banks of the Nile. Many small farmers also own cows, water buffaloes, and chicken. For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Rice (disambiguation). ... Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 For the indie rock group see: Wheat (band). ... This article is about the maize plant. ... Species Saccharum arundinaceum Saccharum bengalense Saccharum edule Saccharum officinarum Saccharum procerum Saccharum ravennae Saccharum robustum Saccharum sinense Saccharum spontaneum Sugarcane or Sugar cane (Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae, tribe Andropogoneae), native to warm temperate to tropical... Two sugar beets - the one on the left has been cultivated to be smoother than the traditional beet, so that it traps less soil. ... For other uses, see Onion (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bean (disambiguation). ... COW is an acronym for a number of things: Can of worms The COW programming language, an esoteric programming language. ... For the controversy at the University of Pennsylvania, see Water buffalo incident. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Several researchers questioned the domestic (and import) policies for dealing with the so-called the "wheat game" since the former Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali was in office. Yousef Wali is a former minister of agriculture of Egypt. ...

In 2006, areas planted with wheat in Egypt exceeded 400 thousand acres (1,600 km²) producing approximately 8 million tons. The domestic supply price farmers receive in Egypt is EGP 1200 ( US$ 211) per ton compared to aproximately EGP 1940 ( US$ 340) per ton for import from the USA, Egypt's main supplier of wheat and corn. Egypt is, in fact, the U.S.'s largest market for wheat and corn sales, accounting for US$1 billion annually and about 46% of Egypt's needs from imported wheat. Other sources of imported wheat, include Kazakhstan, Canada, France, Syria, Argentina and Australia. There are plans to increase the areas planted with wheat up to nearly 3 million acres (12,000 km²) by 2017 to narrow the gap between domestic food supply and demand. Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 For the indie rock group see: Wheat (band). ... This article is about the maize plant. ...

The Western Desert accounts for about two-thirds of the country's land area. For the most part, it is a massive sandy plateau marked by seven major depressions. One of these, Fayoum, was connected about 3,600 years ago to the Nile by canals. Today, it is an important irrigated agricultural area. The Western Desert is a desert region West of the Nile in Egypt, extending to Libya. ...

Practically all Egyptian agriculture takes place in some 25,000 km² (6 million acres) of fertile soil in the Nile Valley and Delta.

Some desert lands are being developed for agriculture, including the controvercial but ambitious Toshka project in Upper Egypt, but some other fertile lands in the Nile Valley and Delta are being lost to urbanization and erosion. Larger modern farms are becoming more important in the desert. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Map of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper and Lower Egypt. ... ...

The argiculture objectives on the desert lands are often questioned; the desert farm lands which were offered regularly at different levels and prices were restricted to a limited group of elites selected very carefully, who later profiteered retailing the granted large desert farm land by pieces. This allegedly transforms the desert farms to tourist resorts, hits all government plans to develop and improve the conditions of the poor, and causes serious negative impact on argiculture and the overall national economy over time. One company, for example, bought over 70 hectare of large desert farm for a price as low as EGP 0.05 per square meter and now sells for EGP 300 pounds per square meter. In numbers, 70 hectare bought for about US$6000 in 2000 sells for over US$3.7 million in 2007. Currently, no clear solution exists to deal with these activities.

Agriculture biomass, including agricultural wastes and animal manure, produce approximately 30 million ton of dry material per year that could be massively and decisively used, inter alia, for generating bioenergy and improve the quality of life in rural Egypt. Unfortunately, this resource remain terribly under-utilized. ^[4]

Water Resources

"Egypt," wrote the Greek historian Herodotus 25 centuries ago, "is the gift of the Nile." The land's seemingly inexhaustible resources of water and soil carried by this mighty river created in the Nile Valley and Delta the world's most extensive oasis. Without the Nile, Egypt would be little more than a desert wasteland. Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: Hērodotos Halikarnāsseus) was a Greek historian from Ionia who lived in the 5th century BC (ca. ...

The river carves a narrow, cultivated floodplain, never more than 20 kilometers wide, as it travels northward toward Cairo from Lake Nasser on the Sudanese border, behind the Aswan High Dam. Just north of Cairo, the Nile spreads out over what was once a broad estuary that has been filled by riverine deposits to form a fertile delta about 250 kilometers wide (150 mi.) at the seaward base and about 160 kilometers (96 mi) from south to north. This picture shows the flood plain following a 1 in 10 year flood on the Isle of Wight. ... Nickname: Egypt: Site of Cairo (top center) Coordinates: , Government  - Governor Dr. Abdul Azim Wazir Area  - City 214 km²  (82. ... View of Lake Nasser from Abu Simbel Map showing the location of Lake Nasser Lake Nasser (Arabic: Buhayrat Nasir) is a vast artificial lake in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. ... Map of Egypt showing the location of Aswan and Lake Nasser. ...

Before the construction of dams on the Nile, particularly the Aswan High Dam (started in 1960, completed in 1970), the fertility of the Nile Valley was sustained by the water flow and the silt deposited by the annual flood. Sediment is now obstructed by the Aswan High Dam and retained in Lake Nasser. The interruption of yearly, natural fertilization and the increasing salinity of the soil has been a manageable problem resulting from the dam. The benefits remain impressive: more intensive farming on thousands of square kilometres of land made possible by improved irrigation, prevention of flood damage, and the generation of millions of gigajoules of electricity at low cost. Map of Egypt showing the location of Aswan and Lake Nasser. ...

Mineral and Energy Resources

Egypt's mineral and energy resources include petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, and iron ore. Crude oil is found primarily in the Gulf of Suez and in the Western Desert. Natural gas is found mainly in the Nile Delta, off the Mediterranean Sea shore, and in the Western Desert. Oil and gas accounted for approximately 7% of GDP in fiscal year 2000-01. Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... For other uses, see Natural gas (disambiguation). ... A phosphate, in inorganic chemistry, is a salt of phosphoric acid. ... This heap of iron ore pellets will be used in steel production. ... The northern end of the Red Sea is bifurcated by the Sinai Peninsula, creating the Gulf of Suez (Arabic: خليج السويس; transliterated: Khalyj as-Suways) in the west and the Gulf of Aqaba to the east. ... NASA satellite photograph of the Nile Delta (shown in false colour) The Nile Delta (Arabic:دلتا النيل) is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. ... Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Western Desert is a desert region West of the Nile in Egypt, extending to Libya. ...

Export of petroleum and related products amounted to $2.6 billion in the year 2000. In late 2001, Egypt's benchmark "Suez Blend" was about $16.73 per barrel ($105/m³), the lowest price since 1999.

Crude oil production has been in decline for several years since its peak level in 1993, from 941,000 bbl/d in 1993 to 873,000 bbl/d in 1997 and to 696,000 bbl/d in 2005. (See Figure). At the same time, the domestic consumption of oil increased steadily (531,000 bbl/d and 616,000 bbl/d in 1997 and 2005 respectively). It is easy to see from the graph that a linear trend would project that domestic demand would outpace supply in the near future (2008-2009), turning Egypt to a net importer of oil. To minimize this potential, that the Government of Egypt has been encouraging the exploration, production and domestic consumption of natural gas. Natural gas output continues to increase and reached 34.7 Billion cubic meters in 2005. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (888x448, 74 KB) [[:Image:]] File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Economy of Egypt ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (888x448, 74 KB) [[:Image:]] File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Economy of Egypt ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and elaion – oil or Latin oleum – oil ) or crude oil is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. ... In time-series analysis, linear trend is a simple method of forecasting variations in a quantitative variable. ... For other uses, see Natural gas (disambiguation). ...

Over the last 15 years, more than 180 petroleum exploration agreements have been signed and multinational oil companies spent more than $27 billion in exploration companions. These activities led to the findings of about 18 crude oil fields and 16 natural gas fields in FY 2001. The total number of findings rose to 49 in FY 2005. As a result of these findings, crude oil reserves as of December 2006 are estimated at 3.7 billion barrels, and proven natural gas reserves are 1.94 trillion cubic meters with a likely additional discoveries with more exploration campaigns. In August 2007, it was announced that signs of oil reserves in Kom Ombo basin, about 28 miles north of Aswan, was found and a concession agreement was signed with Centorion Energy International for drilling. The main natural gas producer in Egypt is the International Egyptian Oilfield Company (IEOC), a branch of Italian ENI-AGIP. Other companies like BP, BG, Texas-based Apache Corp. and Shell carry out activities of exploration and production by means of concessions granted for a period of generally ample time (often 20 years) and in different geographic zones of oil and gas deposits in the country. Kom Ombo (&#1603;&#1608;&#1605; &#1571;&#1605;&#1576;&#1608;) is an agricultural town in Egypt famous for its temple. ... Apache Corporation NYSE: APA is an independent oil and gas corporation based in Houston, Texas. ...

Egypt's excess of natural gas will more than meet its domestic demand for many years to come. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has established expanding the Egyptian petrochemical industry and increasing exports of natural gas as its most significant strategic objectives. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is the Egyptian authority that supervises exploration, production, marketing and distribution of oil, gas and other natural resources. ...

Egypt and Jordan agreed to construct the Arab Gas Pipeline from Al Arish to Aqaba to export natural gas to Jordan; with its completion in July 2003, Egypt began to export 1.1bcm of gas per year. Total investment in this project is about $220 million. In 2003, Egypt, Jordan and Syria reached an agreement to extend this pipeline to Syria, which possibly could mean a future connection with Turkey, Lebanon and Cyprus. In addition, the East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), a joint company established in 2000 and owned by Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. EGPC (68.4%), the private Israeli company Merhav (25%) as well as Ampal-American Israel Corp. (6.6%), has been granted the rights to export natural gas from Egypt to Israel and other locations in the region via underwater pipelines from Al 'Arish to Ashkelon which will provide Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) 1.7 bcm of gas per year. Gas supply is expected to start in the first half of 2007. Arab Gas Pipeline is a pipeline that exports Egyptian natural gas to the Middle East and by the possible further extension, to Europe. ... Al Arish (alternate spelling El Arish) is the capital and largest city (with 114,900 inhabitants as of 2002) of the Egyptian governate of Shamal Sina, lying on the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai peninsula, 344 kilometers (214 miles) northeast of Cairo. ... Aqaba (Arabic: العقبة al-Ê»Aqabah) is a coastal town with a population of 101,290 (2000) and 2% of Jordans population in the far south of Jordan (). It is the capital of Aqaba Governorate. ... Al Arish Al `ArÄ«sh (alternate spelling El Arish) (Arabic: العريش ) is the capital and largest city (with 114,900 inhabitants as of 2002) of the Egyptian governorate of Shamal Sina, lying on the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai peninsula, 344 kilometers (214 miles) northeast of Cairo. ... Hebrew אַשְׁקְלוֹן (Standard) AÅ¡qÉ™lon Arabic عسقلان Founded in 1951 Government City Also Spelled Ashqelon (officially) District South Population 105,100 (2004) Jurisdiction 55,000 dunams (55 km²) Mayor Roni Mahatzri Ashkelon (Hebrew: ‎; Tiberian Hebrew ʾAÅ¡qÉ™lôn; Arabic: ‎  ; Latin: Ascalon) is a city in the western Negev, in the... Israel Electric Corporation (abbreviation: IEC) is the main supplier of electrical power in Israel. ...

The Emerging ICT Sector

The Egyptian Information and Communications Technology sector has been growing significantly since it was separated from the transportation sector. The market for telecommunications market was officially deregulated since the beginning of 2006 according to the WTO agreement. Information technology (IT) or information and communication technology (ICT) is the technology required for information processing. ... For other uses of the initials WTO, see WTO (disambiguation). ...

While the move could open the market for new entrants, add and improve the infrastructure for its network. and in general create a competitive market, the fixed line market is de facto monopolized by Telecom Egypt. Company Logo Telecom Egypt or Telecom Egypt SAE (TE) (LSE: TEEG), is Egypt’s main Telephone company. ...

The Cellular phone market was doupoly with prices artificially high but witnessed in the past couple of years the traditional price war between the incumbents Mobinil and Vodafone. A 500 minutes outbound local and long distance calling plan currently costs approximately US$30 as compared to approximately US$ 90 in 2005. While the current price is not so expensive, it is still above the international price as plans never allow "unlimited night & weekend minutes." Mobinil logo Mobinil is Egypts first mobile phone operator. ... Vodafone Group Plc is a mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, England, UK. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a market value of about £84. ...

A third GSM 3.5G license was awarded in April 2006 for US$3 billion to a consortium led by the UAE company Eitesalat (66%), Egypt Post (20%), the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) (10%), and the NBE's Commercial International Bank (4%), thus moving the market from duopoly to oligopoly. Etisalat logo Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, also known as Etisalat (former Emirtel), is the incumbent telecommunications carrier and internet service provider in the United Arab Emirates. ... 1898 Sir Earnest Cassel (50% ownership), Ralph Isaac Suarez, his brothers Joseph and Felix and related parties (25%) and Constantine Salvagos of Alexandria (25%) established the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), though Cassel remained in England. ... A true duopoly is a form of oligopoly where only two producers exist in a market. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

On September 24, 2006 the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has announced a license award to Egyptian-Arab private sector consortium of companies to extend a maritime cable for international traffic The US$120 million cable project will serve the Gulf region and south Europe. The construction of the cable should decrease the currently high international call costs and increase domestic demand on internet broadband services, in importantly increase exports of international telecommunication services of Egyptian companies, mostly in the Smart Village. Smart Villiage Pavilion Smart Village is a 450-acre development project in Egypt. ...

It is expected that NTRA’s will award two licenses for international gateways using open technology and deploy WiMax technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to ADSL. WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. ... Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional modem can provide. ...

Investment

The stock market capitalisation of listed companies in Egypt was valued at $79,672 million in 2005 by the World Bank.[1] Market capitalization, often abbreviated to market cap, mkt. ... ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ...

Investment climate

The Egyptian equity market is one of the most developed in the region with more than 633 listed companies. Market capitalization on the exchange doubled in 2005 from USD 47.2 billion to USD 93.5 billion, with turnover surging from USD 1.16 billion in January 2005 to USD 6 billion in January 2006.

Until 2003, the Egyptian economy suffered from shortages in foreign currency and excessively elevated interest rates. A series of budget reforms were conducted in order to redress weaknesses in Egypt’s economic environment and to boost private sector involvement and confidence in the economy.

Major fiscal reforms were introduced in 2005 in order to tackle the informal sector which according to estimates represents somewhere between 30% to 60% of GDP. Significant tax cuts for corporations were introduced for the first time in Egyptian history. The new Income tax Law No 91 for 2005 reduced the tax rate from 40% to 20%. According to government figures, tax filing by individuals and corporations increased by 100%. Fiscal policy is the economic term that defines the set of principles and decisions of a government in setting the level of public expenditure and how that expenditure is funded. ...

Many changes were made to cut trade tariffs. Among the legislator’s goals were tackling the black market, reducing bureaucracy and pushing through trade liberalization measures. Amendments to Investment and Company law were introduced in order to attract foreign investors. For example, the number of days required for establishing a company was dramatically reduced. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into underground economy. ...

Significant improvement to the domestic economic environment increased investors’ confidence in Egypt. The Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange is considered among the best ten emerging markets in the world. The changes to the policy also attracted increased levels of foreign direct investment in Egypt. According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development’s World Investment Report, Egypt was ranked the second largest country in attracting foreign investment in Africa. Egypts Stock Exchange is comprised of two exchanges, Cairo and Alexandria, both of which are governed by the same board of directors and share the same trading, clearing and settlement systems. ...

Given the large number of amendments to laws and regulations, Egypt has succeeded to a certain extent in conforming to international standards. Very recently the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange (CASE) was welcomed with full membership into the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) – the first Arab country to be invited. Egypts Stock Exchange is comprised of two exchanges, Cairo and Alexandria, both of which are governed by the same board of directors and share the same trading, clearing and settlement systems. ...

Enforcement of these newly adopted regulatory frameworks remain, sometime problematic. Problems like corruption hamper economic development in Egypt. Many scandals involving bribery were reported during the past years. “In 2002 alone, as many as 48 high-ranking officials - including former cabinet ministers, provincial governors and MPs were convicted of influence peddling, profiteering and embezzlement.” Maintaining good relations with politicians is sometimes a key to business success in Egypt. Based on the 2006 Corruption Perception Index developed by Transparency International (where the higher the ranking the greater the level of corruption), Egypt ranked 70 out of 163. On a scale from 0 to 10 (with 0 being highly corrupt), Egypt scored a 3.3 .

Labor force and Employment

Approximately one-third of Egyptian labour is engaged directly in farming, and many others work in the processing or trading of agricultural products. Farming, ploughing rice paddy, in Indonesia Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other desired products by cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). ...

Unemployment rate increased from 10.3% in FY2004 to 11.2% in 2005. The average rate of growth of employment in the publicly-owned enterprises sector was -2% per year between FY1998 and FY2005 as a result of aggressive privatization program. On the other hand, private sector employment grew at an average rate of 3% over that period. In addition, the government sector employment grew by almost double the rate of the private sector over the same period.

Unemployment among those with non-university degee or higher decreased from 23% in FY1998 to 16% in FY2000 and to 14% in FY2005. Perhaps this decrease reflect the migration of educated persons to work abroad (as statistics does not include the figure of those working abroad).

In general, the average weekly wage in the private sector is, in many instances, higher than that of the public sector. In some other instances, e.g. whole sale and retail trades, the weekly wage is lower by half of that in the public sector.

As a result of the weakness role of the Ministry of Manpower and Trade Unions to create a balance between the rights of workers and the interests of owners of companies in the private sector, privatization has led to worsening employment problems and deterioration in their working environment and health, and many workers have recently resorted to strike and picketing.

Poverty and Income Distribution

According to the 2005 Household Income, Expenditure and Consumption Survey (HIECS), estimated per capita poverty lines vary across the regions. Data from a World Bank and Ministry of Economic Development poverty assessment based on comparisons between actual expenditures (and the cost of a consumption basket securing 2470 calories per day per person), shows that individual Egyptians who spent less than EGP 995 per year in 2005 are considered extreme poor, those who spent less than EGP 1423 are poor and .those who spent less than EGP 1853 are near poor.

Overall about 44% of the Egyptian population are in the range of extreme poor to near poor: ^[5]

• 19.6% of the Egyptian population was poor, meaning that about 13.6 million Egyptians (one out of every five) had consumption expenditure below the poverty line and could not therefore obtain their basic food and non-food needs.

• 3.8% of the Egyptian population was extreme poor, meaning that about 2.6 million of the Egyptian poor could not obtain their basic food requirements even if they spent all their expenditure on food.

• 21% of the Egyptian population was near poor, meaning that about 14.6 million Egyptians can obtain their basic food requirements in addition to some basic services.

Poverty has a strong regional dimension in Egypt and concentrates in Upper Egypt region, both urban (18.6%) and rural( 39.1), while metropolitan areas are the least poor (5.7%). The government is currently employing recently completed poverty map as tool for geographic targeting of public resources. Poverty map is very powerful tool of targeting mechanisms. ... Geographic targeting is a viable way for resource allocation, especially to alleviate poverty in a country. ...

Statistics

Basic Data
Fiscal Year	1 July - 30 June
Currency	Egyptian pound (EGP) = 100 piasters
Measuring System	Metric
Land Area	1 million km2

To Be Completed Soon: is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The flag of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organization entrusted with overseeing the global financial system by monitoring foreign exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering technical and financial assistance when asked. ...

Notes

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, also called the Agriculture Department, or USDA, is a Cabinet department of the United States Federal Government. ...

References

• Nawar, Abdel-Hameed (2005). ""The Emerging Landscape of the Natural Gas in Egypt"". Cairo University, manuscript. 
• Nawar, Abdel-Hameed (2006). ""NIS in Egypt: The Need for A Strategic Shift"". Cairo University, manuscript. 
• Nawar, Abdel-Hameed (2007). ""From Marina to Kom-Ombo: A Note on Poverty in Egypt"". Cairo University, manuscript August. 
• Ministry of Investment (2005). ""Quarterly report (Second Quarter) financial". 
• Oxford business group. ""Emerging Egypt 2007”". 

See also

• Egypt
• List of Egyptian companies
• Next Eleven

Advanced Computer Technology Arabic Integrated Services Arab Contractors Co. ... A Map of the nations in the list. ...

External links

• Business Today Egypt magazine
• Tansparency International website

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