Since assuming the mandate of the Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been working to ensure that there are multiple sources of national income in his country beyond oil. That’s the goal of his nation’s “Vision 2030”, to ensure that Saudi Arabia reaches this point through the shortest path! The question is: Where does tourism stand in our 2030 Vision plan, which was announced years ago? Tourism is a vision that seeks a specific goal according to a timetable of the type Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia on the other side of the Red Sea!. This is exactly what I ask about those who formulated our 2030 Vision plan!

CAIRO – 20 June 2022: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli asserted that Egypt's development experiment over the past eight years has placed it on the world map in several vital sectors, noting that Cairo is ready to offer its expertise to any Arab or African states. Addressing the seventh edition of the Builders of Egypt Forum, the premier praised renewing confidence in Egypt to preside over the African federation of Construction Contractors associations “AFCCA” which held its general assembly meeting on Saturday. He reviewed Egypt's development efforts in the sectors of housing, transport and roads as well as digital transformation. Over the past eight years, Egypt has succeeded in making a great leap in removing the challenges facing such vital sectors, the premier noted. In the housing field, Egypt has managed to end the dangerous slums and moved its residents to safe and livable housing units that suit the various segments, the premier noted.

Egypt - Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said that the state’s general budget for the new FY is the largest in Egypt’s history, as it exceeds EGP 3 trillion. Its total expenditures, according to estimates, are about EGP 2.71 trillion, while the total estimated revenues are EGP 1.18 trillion and EGP 18bn. He added that in implementation of the president’s directives, the allocations for health and education have been increased in the new budget to meet the constitutional entitlement. The total allocations for the university and pre-university education sector amounted to EGP 476.3bn, and EGP 79.3bn for scientific research. Also, the total allocations to the health sector amounted to EGP 310bn.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held a tripartite summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday, with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein. Egypt’s presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said that President Sisi welcomed the monarchs as dear guests to Egypt. Sisi affirmed Egypt’s desire to enhance constructive cooperation between Egypt, Bahrain and Jordan, in a way that achieves their common interests and enhances joint Arab action efforts – especially in light of the major challenges resulting from multiple regional and international developments. They noted that these relations are a cornerstone for maintaining regional stability and restoring balance to the region, due to the pivotal importance Egypt, Bahrain and Jordan hold regionally and internationally. The leaders also welcomed the upcoming summit to be hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and the US.

The Suez Canal Authority has amended the incentives provided to passenger ships and tourist ships (with passengers only) that visit Egyptian ports on the Mediterranean and Red Seas, the privately-owned al-Mal newspaper reported on Friday. The authority confirmed that a reduction of up to 50 percent of the normal transit fees for both outbound and return trips will be granted to cruise ships carrying passengers only. This is provided that the period of their stopover in Egyptian ports is not less than 72 hours. If the period of their stop in Egyptian ports is less than 72 hour with a minimum of 24 hours, the reduction percentage is calculated by multiplying 50 percent by the number of stopping hours in Egyptian ports, divided by 72 (the stopover hours). The reduction is applied to passenger ships and tourist ships without specifying the total tonnage, which in a previous publication amounted to more than 300 tons.

CAIRO – 18 June 2022: Egypt has developed a future strategy to introduce electric means of transport into public transport. Egypt seeks to localize the idea of sustainable environmentally-friendly transport and to switch to the use of electric and natural gas-powered cars. Egypt’s agenda aims to reduce air pollution and climate change, in Greater Cairo, by supplying the Public Transport Authority with about 100 electric buses. Egypt applied a pioneering experiment of electric mobility at the General Authority for Passenger Transport in Alexandria, and the creation of about 15 electric buses as a public transport service. The Ministry of Electricity also announced that solar projects, up to 1 megawatt, would be exempted from the integration fees on the electrical grid.

President Sisi participated in the forum as the host and president of COP27. The US established the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Change in 2009 to support issues of climate change and mobilize the necessary international momentum. Launched last year at COP26, the Global Methane Pledge is led by the US and European Union with the aim of catalyzing action to reduce methane emissions. Countries participating in the pledge commit to cooperate on reducing methane emissions by at least 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030. Sisi announced that Egypt will work on reducing methane emissions based on the expertise and funding provided by the initiative and in cooperation with international partners in this regard.

CAIRO – 17 June 2022: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has invited the companies partaking at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) and other companies to benefit from the mega investment opportunities in Egypt in all fields. In a recorded speech on Friday at the 25th session of the forum, Sisi said the Egyptian government managed to advance the country’s legislative structure in order for Egypt to be able to attract more foreign investments. This is in addition to the mega projects Egypt is implementing in the fields of transport by expanding thousands of kilometers of roads and upgrading Egypt’s transport system by introducing new projects, the president added. Sisi also highlighted the country’s numerous projects in the field of clean energy production. “This year's forum is being held amid unprecedented political and economic circumstances and challenges of a strategic nature,” Sisi said.

"By 2026 soccer or football will be the number one sport in this part of the world," Infantino boldly predicted as fans in the newly-appointed host cities celebrated. "It was the most competitive process for a FIFA World Cup, we'll have the world coming here, we'll have an exciting tournament," Infantino said. Canadian national team player and Toronto native Jonathan Osorio said that as a child he could not have imagined seeing a World Cup in his home country. The 2026 tournament is expected to smash World Cup attendance records, which peaked at 3.6 million when it was held in the United States in 1994. "To be a part of it (the Qatar World Cup) and then to have one in this country is going to be amazing," Pulisic said.

CAIRO – 17 June 2022: An old building in Al-Waily district in Cairo collapsed on Friday morning and rescue teams managed to recover five bodies from the rubble. Search is underway for more victims of the collapse of the five-story building in Daher area of the district, according to security sources. The civil protection forces have dispatched a large number of equipment to search for the victims. Governor of Cairo Khaled Abdel Aal moved to the site of the building to follow up on the rescue operations with the presence of security forces and ambulance, according to a statement by the governorate. The neighboring buildings have been evacuated as a precautionary measure until the engineering committee finishes the inspection work to ensure the buildings’ safety.

CAIRO – 16 June 2022: MP Tarek El-Khouli, a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee, has explained to Egypt Today the criteria that the recently revived committee’s work is based on to prepare pardon lists. Khouli affirmed that the committee receives pardon requests via many avenues, including through the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) and the human rights committees of the House of Representatives and Senate. In addition, the committee receives pardon requests through the National Youth Conference website, Khouli added. So far, many inmates, including activists, have recently been released by the Presidential Pardon Committee. Most recently, three inmates who have been convicted in the case 8629/2011 have received a presidential pardon and will be released within hours, according to the Official Gazette on Tuesday.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi vowed to “rebuild everything” after visiting Ukraine’s war-torn city of Irpin on Thursday. “We will rebuild everything. Each family has an app where they describe what happened, and they are already in a very advanced state,” he added. During his visit to the Kyiv suburb, locals spoke to him “about rebuilding. Words of pain, of hope but also of what they will want to do in the future,” the Italian leader said.

Egypt’s Minister of Immigration Nabila Makram conducts an interview with Egypt Today in an interview on Thursday, March 15, 2018, at the Magazine headquarters in Giza- Egypt Today/Karim Abdel AzizCAIRO - 16 June 2022: State Minister for Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates' Affairs Nabila Makram witnessed Thursday the launch of an initiative dubbed "Speak up..Don't be Afraid.. Egypt is by yourside." The initiative, which was launched in cooperation with an Egyptian online mental health platform, aiming to provide psychological support to the young Egyptians abroad. The launching ceremony began by screening a documentary film on the initiative and its goals as well as the steps to register on the online platform to receive necessary treatment. Nabila Makram stated that Egyptian youth abroad are exposed to problems that are strange to our eastern society, stressing that young people do not talk about these problems, which exposes them to some psychological crises. The Minister of Immigration indicated that psychological support for young people abroad is very important, which called for the ministry to sign a protocol of cooperation with a private organization to launch the initiative for psychological support for Egyptian youths abroad, stressing that the initiative offers the mental support services free of charge.

CAIRO – 16 June 2022: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, who serves also as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, will embark on a tour of three countries in the region next week, DPA reported Saudi officials on Thursday. The tour will include Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey, the sources added, noting that Bin Salman will discuss with the leaders of the three countries a number of regional and international issues, foremost of which is the Iranian nuclear file, and efforts to end the war in Yemen. The talks will also tackle the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the region, and strengthening bilateral relations between these countries and Riyadh, in addition to signing related agreements in energy and trade, the sources continued. Moreover, the Saudi Crown Prince will discuss in Cairo and Amman the preparations for the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit +3 (Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq) due to be held in Riyadh with Biden’s participation. Bin Salman’s tour comes two weeks before US President Joe Biden’s visit to the Saudi kingdom, scheduled on July 15 and 16, following another visit by Biden to Israel on July 14, and 15.

The ambassador thanked Kuwait and the bodies concerned for cooperation with Egypt to restore the stolen pieces. The five artifacts were seized in Kuwait in 2019. In statements to MENA on the fringe of the monuments' handover, Shaltout underlined that the two countries are keen on enhancing bilateral cooperation in various domains. He noted that there is continued coordination between the two sides vis-a-vis issues of mutual concern.