Another tunnel
A tunnel will be built under the Suez Canal at its northern tip at Port Said, with the aim of developing the East Port Said area in Sinai where a large industrial area is planned. Industrial development is expected to spawn commercial, financial, and tourist activity, and it is hoped the project would create thousands of job opportunities.
New licence plates
The Egyptian Mint authority has announced plans to build a LE200-million factory for vehicle licence plates, with a 350,000 to 500,000 plate annual capacity, with German expertise. The new plates will include a bar code to help the traffic authority gain swift access to a vehicle’s record, as well as high-tech built-in holograms and anti-counterfeit security labels and seals.
Training from London
A cooperation agreement has been signed between the Egyptian Capital Market Authority (CMA) and the London Securities Institute (LSI) aiming at providing training for Egyptian workers in the securities market. Lord David Lewis Mayor of the City of London, who was on a recent visit to Egypt, attended the signing ceremony.
Indian centre
The Indian Satyam Computer Services Ltd has set up its Global Services Centre on some 2000 square metres in the Smart Village at the satellite city of 6 October west of Cairo. Satyam is a leading global business and information technology company, delivering consultations, integrated systems, and outsourcing solutions to clients in more than 20 industries.
IT export
Making use of the successful Smart Village prototype, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif has approved a 75-feddan IT investment project in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. The project aims to further expand exports of Information Technology services, particularly in the call center and outsourcing fields. The first stage will be completed in 2009 and will provide some 9000 job opportunities, expected to go up to some 100,000 jobs by 2012. More than 30 companies already requested to join the new project, Communications Minister Tarek Kamel said.
African trainees
Earlier this month saw the graduation ceremony of 18 Nile Basin country nationals who completed a training course in Cairo in the operation and maintenance of electric transformers. The course was part of a programme by the Egyptian government to train African cadres in electricity related fields. So far 40 trainees from Sudan, Ethiopia, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda have benefited from the programme.
Predynastic farm
A joint US Dutch team working at the site of a 7,000-year-old village in Fayoum, 80km southwest Cairo, has excavated clay floors and hearths belonging to the late Stone Age long before the appearance of the pharaohs. The remains of wheat and barley, as well as domesticated pigs, sheep, and goats—all imported from the Middle East or Turkey—were found, potentially adding a new chapter to the history of Egypt’s contact with foreign cultures. The site is the earliest farm settlement yet found in Egypt.
Deceptive gates
Spanish archaeologists working in Ihnasia, Beni Sweif, some 100km south of Cairo, have unearthed three stone gates dating back to the First Intermediate Period (2191-2040BC). The “Deceptive Gates”, as they have been termed, were removed from their original burial place, a graveyard that was demolished and burnt over the years, and renovated. Also found were two offering tables and the remains of walls built of red brick and adobe, as well as shards of pre-Intermediate period pottery.