Day: February 13, 2023

World Government Summit kicked off, Monday in Dubai with the participation of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Egypt participates as a guest of honor in this year’s edition of the summit as President Sisi expected to give a speech at the Summit attended nearly by more than 20 heads of state and governments, more than 250 ministers, 10,000 government officials.

Presidential Spokesperson Ahmed Fahmy said that Sisi arrived in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, on Sunday as he was received by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the UAE President.

Both leaders held a bilateral meeting at the Qasr Al Shatie.

The Egyptian President offered his sincere condolences on the death of the late Sheikha Maryam bint Abdullah bin Sulayem Al-Falasi, Fahmy added.

Both leaders discussed the regional issues in a way that helps support the stability of the Arab region and the Middle East region. The meeting also dealt with ways to continue strengthening bilateral relations and developing cooperation frameworks in various fields.

President Sisi will be a guest of Honor at the World Government Summit 2023 due to convene on February 13-15 in Dubai, announced the official Twitter account of the Summit on Friday.

It added that the Egyptian President will head a high-level delegation in Egypt’s largest participation in the summit to highlight administrative reform and other topics.

The Summit would be attended by more than “20 heads of state and governments, more than 250 ministers, 10,000 government officials, as well as global thought leaders and international experts.”

President Sisi will give a speech at the summit, said the UAE’s state-owned news agency KUNA.

“Egypt’s participation this year will be the largest over the past editions of the summit, as it affirms the depth of the UAE-Egypt historical relations which goes over 5 decades and represents a distinguished model for bilateral relations between Arab countries based on integration and common interests. The Egyptian delegation includes ministers, officials and representatives of the government and private sectors to participate in main sessions, dialogues and forums of the World Government Summit,” KUNA added.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

Professor of Geology and Water Resources at the Cairo University Abbas Sharaky said on Sunday that the safety factors of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) remain unknown to Egypt and Sudan.

He added that Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed to conduct studies on the safety of the GERD, and a French office was chosen, but Ethiopia obstructed the French office’s work.

During a phone interview with TV host Amr Adib on his show “al-Hekaya” (The Story) on MBC Masr channel, Sharaky added that earthquakes impact dams greatly, no matter how well constructed they are.

He added: “We saw Turkey emptying its largest dam, the Ataturk Dam, with a capacity of 49 billion cubic meters, while GERD has a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters of water, and this poses a danger.”

Sharaky explained that the Great Rift Valley is located near GERD, and poses a threat to the safety of the dam.

He pointed out that American studies were developing a design for the Renaissance Dam with a capacity of 11 billion cubic meters of water, but Ethiopia decided to build the largest dam in Africa with a very huge capacity, which poses a threat to the dam’s body.

Egyptian Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel-Aty said in October 2021 that an international committee was formed to study the dam in 2011 and ended in 2013, which he said confirmed that there are major technical problems in the dam’s construction which could lead to instability.

Abdel-Aty said Tuesday that Egypt has preventive measures to protect it in the event that GERD collapses. He explained that this is done by establishing the strongest infrastructure system around the High Dam in Aswan.

Stagnant negotiations

Egypt and Sudan consider the dam a threat to their vital water supplies, while Ethiopia considers it essential for development and doubling its electricity production.

Negotiations over the dam between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan have stalled for years, with the three parties ultimately failing to reach any agreements.

Egypt and Sudan say they want a legally binding agreement on operating the dam, while Ethiopia says any pact should be advisory.

The downstream nations fear possible blows to water facilities, agricultural land, and overall availability of Nile water.

The disputed dam is the largest hydroelectric project in Africa, with a cost of more than four billion dollars.

Source: Egypt Independent

The Cairo Criminal Court has removed Juhayna owner Safwan Thabet from its terrorist list three weeks after his release along with his son from prison.

The two suspects have been imprisoned for about two years pending the case on accusations of funding the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Al-Waqa’i’ al-Misriyya newspaper published the text of the Cairo Criminal Court’s decision on February 12.

The Egyptian authorities arrested Thabeth, 76, at the end of 2020, and two months later arrested his son, Saif.

Prior to that, in 2015, a judicial committee formed by the government issued a decision seizing the funds and property of Thabet due to links to the Muslim Brotherhood group, which is banned in Egypt.

Thabet and his son own Juhayna Food Industries, the largest producer of bottled milk and juices in Egypt. It was established in 1983 and exports its production to markets in the Middle East, US and Europe.

Source: Egypt Independent

The UAE company, Dana Gas, will inject $100 million into the Egyptian market during two years; 2022 and 2023, according to the CEO of the company, Patrick Allman.

Allman said in a TV interview that his company is interested in the bids that Egypt intends to put up soon for oil and gas exploration.

“We are currently studying the items related to this investment opportunity,” he added.

Allman’s statements came in the wake of the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum announcement that it has plans to launch three international bids for oil and gas exploration during 2023.

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum, Tarek el-Molla announced on Sunday that four international bids have been launched on Egypt’s digital portal for exploration and production that was launched early 2021.

El-Molla added that it is planned to launch three international bids during the current year.

The net profit of Dana Gas decreased by 42 percent to 667 million dirhams in 2022, compared to profits of 1.16 billion dirhams in 2021.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi took part Monday in a roundtable discussion with representatives of “unicorn startup companies” operating in the sectors of technology, artificial intelligence, e-commerce and sustainable management of resources on the sidelines of UAE’s World Government Summit held in Dubai.

The attendees expressed interest in investing in Egypt, and those already having investments in the country, said they wanted to expand. In that context, the president showcased the government’s eagerness for constantly communicating with investors to learn about the obstacles they face, and hence, eliminate them.

President Sisi said that private investors, especially startups, are pivotal for the transfer of modern technology, and sustainable development. He also shed light on the economic, institutional, and legal reforms Egypt had carried out, as well as the facts that Egypt is turning into a regional energy hub, and that the country is a large market.

The president had met with UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, newly-elected Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi spoke as guest at one of the sessions of the World Government Summit hosted by the UAE saying that Egypt is the only survivor of the chaos that hit the Arab World a decade ago, and that the country had to face parallel challenges.

President Sisi clarified that in 2011, Egyptians were fragmented and that it was a miracle that they reunited again. The bill of chaos in Egypt was $450 billion, he noted.

The Egyptian president pointed out that the electricity outages the country endured, if persisted, would cause the collapse of the country. That’s why LE1.7 trillion, when the dollar was worth LE8, were invested in the sector to resolve the crisis, he clarified.

“Egypt is now ready for electricity linkage with neighboring states by virtue of not postponing the upgrade of the sector’s infrastructure,” President Sisi said.

The chief of state added that LE2 trillion were invested in the transport sector, pointing out to the need for rehabilitating and expanding the infrastructure. He further underlined that Egypt is building 24 smart cities, stipulating it was a necessity given that Egyptians had been crammed in just 5 percent of the country’s surface area.

The Egyptian president stated that the quality of education and health are very hard to enhance, stressing that Egypt needs an annual budget worth $1 trillion. Yet, he said that Egypt had already begun investing in the healthcare sector, which is most evident in the eradication of hepatitis C from the country.

As for education, the Egyptian president stated that the development of the sector needs nearly $250 billion.

“Experiencing terrorism means experiencing the bombing of schools, churches, mosques and infrastructure among others. It means a citizen telling you ‘I don’t care about food but give me security.’ That is now history,” Egypt’s President Sisi underscored.

“Nevertheless, Egypt would not have made it out the crisis without our sister Arab countries,” the president stressed. He reflected on the first meeting with Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed whereas Egyptians were waiting in long queues at gas stations. “Immediately, afterwards, I found Emirati ships arriving in Egypt carrying all needs of fuels,” the president underlined.

“Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed coordinated Arab efforts to support Egypt,” President Sisi highlighted, urging to enlarge the amount of aid sent to Syria in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake.

The president concluded his talk at the summit by affirming that when a country turns into a failed state, it becomes almost impossible to recover.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine