CAIRO - 16 December 2022: Egypt condemned on Thursday a deadly attack on a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which killed an Irish soldier and injured three others on the previous day in the coastal village of Al-Aqbieh in South Lebanon. “Egypt extends its sincere condolences to the UNIFIL envoy, the government and people of friendly Ireland, and the victim’s family,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry also wished the injured a speedy recovery. “Egypt has stressed the need to respect and ensure the security of the UN peacekeeping elements in light of their pivotal role in promoting peace and stability in accordance with the tasks assigned to them by the Security Council,’ the ministry added. Irish peacekeeper Seán Rooney was killed after his convoy was attacked by “armed locals angry at the UN presence in their village,” Irish reports said, citing preliminary assessments by the UN.

Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa met with Director General of International Relations at the Saudi Ministry of Tourism, Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Musallam, on the sidelines of the 25th meeting of the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism at the Arab League in Cairo. The meeting aims to discuss ways to enhance cooperation between the two brotherly countries in the field of tourism, by activating a number of tourism initiatives, including the tourism education and training initiative, and the development of tourism activities and joint marketing programmes. The Saudi delegation included Vice President of the Saudi Red Sea Authority for Digital Transformation, Khalid bin Fahd Al-Thunayan; Advisor for International Relations, Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Gharib; and Advisor to the President of the Red Sea Authority, Ayman Ibrahim Al-Ibrahim. From the Egyptian side, Deputy Minister for Tourism Affairs, Ghada Shalaby, and Assistant Minister for Technical Affairs, Youmna Al-Bahar, attended the meeting. This comes within the efforts of the two parties to activate bilateral partnerships and enhance regional cooperation in the tourism sector.

Etisal organised its regular meeting within the framework of the Meet the Government series with Khaled Sharif — Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Digital Transformation. In a press statement issued by the organisation, Sherif stressed that the tourism and antiquities sector is a promising sector in light of the Egyptian state’s interest in implementing the digital transformation system in projects related to this sector. Sherif added that the current digital revolution has prompted the ministry to adopt a new strategy. He also said that the ministry has an estimated 30 digital transformation projects, including projects related to infrastructure, which include unifying the e-mail domain, increasing the internet speed in hotels, providing internet in archaeological sites and museums, and connecting internal offices. Sherif called on Egyptian companies and start-ups to submit projects in this regard to the ministry or through innovative new projects that may contribute to revitalising tourism and facilitating the movement of tourists in Egypt.

Nevine Gamea, Executive Director of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA), said that the agency works within the framework of an integrated system to improve the living standards of thousands of families in informal settlements. Gamea praised the continuous cooperation between MSMEDA and the Ministry of International Cooperation in concluding agreements with various donors and international agencies to implement development projects that serve the Egyptian society. Gamea affirmed the agency’s keenness on completing cooperation with development partners during the second phase of the urban upgrading program, given that the European Union and the French Development Agency are among the most important and largest funders and partners of the agency over the years. Darwish referred to the mandate of the European Union to the French Development Agency to implement a second phase of the program and enhance job opportunities under the management of the agency, to be implemented at the beginning of 2023. He stressed the aspiration to complete cooperation with the agency and partner agencies to provide a better life for citizens in these areas.

The agricultural and land reclamation sector accounts for the largest proportion of the total government investments directed to North Sinai Governorate. In this regard, we review the most prominent development projects in the field of agriculture and land reclamation in North Sinai:1- Establishing (8) agricultural communities in North Sinai Governorate. 2- Establishing the necessary infrastructure for cultivating 13 development communities in the Sinai Peninsula. 3- Protecting major national projects and development areas from the dangers of sand encroachment in the reclamation areas. 6- Drilling and equipping wells, establishing a storage lake in Wadi Al-Azariq, raising dams on Wadi Al-Jarafi, and supplying pumps in North Sinai.

The country has been about a month and a half into the new academic year and now school students are now waiting for the date of the mid-year vacation 2023, as well as the mid-year exam for 2022. School mid-year vacation datesThe mid-year vacation extends from January 28, 2023 to February 9, that is, about 15 days, according to the time map announced by the Ministry of Education since the start of the school year. The second semester 2022 for all educational levels begins on February 11, 2023 and extends until June 8, and the end-of-school exams start from June 11 to July 8, 2023. Exam dates for the second semester 2023:On Tuesday, December 13, 2022, Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, issued a circular regarding examination dates for transfer, high school, and vocational diploma classes for the academic year 2022-2023, stating the following:1. The exams for the second semester for students of the transfer and preparatory certificate classes will start on Saturday, May 6, 2023.

Planning Minister Hala el Saeed said Thursday that the investments allocated for the educational sector are estimated at EGP 77.2 billion in the fiscal year 2022/2023. El Saeed’s remarks came as the Planning and Economic Development Ministry issued a report on targets of the 2022/2023 fiscal year as regards educational services. Production of the educational sector is expected to increase to EGP 214.8 billion in 2022/2023 instead of EGP 184.7 billion in 2021-2022. Saeed said education is the cornerstone to develop human resources and enhance knowledge to be up to the latest developments of the era.

CAIRO – 15 December 2022: Egyptian Engineer Abdul Ghaffar el-Sayyed Abdul Ghaffar was selected as the vice-president of the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Egypt is the first Arab and African country to be elected for the second time in a row in this specialized committee. The voting came during a meeting of the Environment Committee of ICAO that was held in São Paulo, Brazil, earlier this week. “This victory confirms Egypt's pioneering role in the field of environmental protection […], especially after its honorable success in organizing the major global event, COP 27, which was held in Sharm El-Sheikh last November,” said Minister of Civil Aviation Mohamed Abbas in a statement on Thursday. During COP27, the Ministry of Civil Aviation participated in a session held by the ICAO regarding the ambitious global goal for international aviation to reach zero carbon emissions by 2050, MENA reported.

The cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center highlighted efforts exerted by the Sovereign Fund of Egypt to carry out ten projects in 2021 at total investments of 25.5 billion Egyptian pounds, according to a report by IDSC on sovereign funds and sustainable development Thursday. The Fund’s share hits nearly 3.9 billion Egyptian pounds and the local private sector’s share reaches approximately 6.1 billion Egyptian pounds and that the foreign private sector’s portion is 15.4 billion Egyptian pounds, added the report. The report spotlighted the notion and establishment of sovereign funds to achieve sustainable development. The report tackled the establishment, goals and efforts of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and the most important successful international experiments of sovereign funds. Five sub-funds of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt were set up, according to the report.

CAIRO – 15 December 2022: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III at the Pentagon, expressing eagerness for reinforcing Egypt's strategic partnership with the United States, particularly in the realms of defense and security, in light of the exceptional circumstances experienced by the region and the world. On his side, the secretary of state said that the United States would continue to work with Egypt and neighboring states "to strengthen interoperability, integrated air and missile defense and maritime security" necessary to defend the people and territory, the Pentagon indicated in a statement. Austin also commended Egypt for its cooperation with the United States to achieve shared security objectives, and for its role in securing a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. I am also delighted to meet Mr. Lloyd Austin, the U.S. Secretary of State. My sincere wishes to our friend, the United States, of all well-being, peace, progress, more development and prosperity."

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) revealed Wednesday that the trade exchange between Egypt and the United States increased to $7.3bn in the first nine months of 2022, compared to $6.5bn during the same period in 2021, a growth of 13.4%. According to the agency, the most important commodity groups that Egypt exported to the United States during 9M 2022 were garments worth of $1.1bn, plastics and their manufactures worth of $136.5m, carpets and floor coverings worth of $117.4m, vegetables worth of $83m, and glass worth of $68.7m. CAPMAS said that the US investments in Egypt increased to $9.2bn during fiscal year 2020/21, compared to $7.7bn in FY2019/20, an increase of 19.8%. According to the agency, the number of Egyptians residing in America reached 1.5 million in 2021. © 2022 Daily News Egypt.

Visa is dedicated to empowering small- and women-led entrepreneurship in Africa through its operations and community programs. Today, an estimated 500 million people in Africa are without access to formal financial services, less than 50% of the adult population made or received digital payments in Africa, and more than 40 million merchants do not accept digital payments. “Africa is experiencing an unprecedented digital acceleration, with a growing number of consumers, merchants and businesses realizing the benefits of secure and convenient digital payments to fuel commerce and money movement,” said Aida Diarra, Senior Vice President, of Visa Sub-Saharan Africa. Visa has 10 offices across Africa from which it supports payments in all 54 countries. Collaborating, with partners, to advance financial literacy in several languages, including the first Arabic version of Practical Money Skills in Egypt.

It is a low-hanging fruit because a lot of the solu-tions, technologies and products needed to improve energy efficiency globally already exist today. Mohamed Salem, how would you describe the role that energy efficiency is playing in industry nowadays? The management of energy and improving energy efficiency has long been important for industry, houses, Transportation and commerce. It took many other surnames going from energy conservation, energy management, carbon reduction until reaching the energy efficiency phase we are living in today. Improving industrial energy efficiency is the quickest way for a business to cut energy costs without compromising performance and productivi-ty.

By providing youth with the skills they need to safely and responsibly navigate digital spaces, the program empowers students to leverage the infinite potential of an increasingly digital world, while safeguarding their wellbeing. Hence, the importance of the Agency’s schools’ participation with META in working together on this”. Joelle Awwad, Head of Policy Programs, Meta commented: “A generation of digitally-savvy youth is defining the future of the MENA region. At Meta, we believe that online safety is fundamental to that progress; My Digital World is our commitment to achieve this. Hence, CCE is placing a significant effort and emphasis on digital safety in partnership with META and UNRWA that will lead to sustainable, scalable and a safe digital educational ecosystem that works for the MENA region,” he added.

Mobile phone giant Samsung produced its first phone manufactured in Egypt, a move that will help reduce the prices of this type of phone in Egypt, the Vice President of the Mobile Phone and Satellite Division in Egypt Walid Ramadan announced. Ramadan told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Samsung opened a mobile phone factory in Beni Suef, becoming the fourth company after Seiko, Vivo, and Nokia to open factories in Egypt. This represents a major shift in the mobile phone industry and a step that will save millions of dollars used in the import of these commodities, he said. Internet lines sold in Egypt annually reach more than 60 million, mobile phone SIMs about 95 million, and wallets 17 million. He added that factories specialized for mobile services such as chargers, headphones and other phone accessories are planned in the future, to eventually turn Egypt into a hub for mobile phone manufacturing.