WATANI International
11 January 2009
Solar power
The first 140 megawatt, $220 million solar unit in the thermal-solar power plant at Kuraimat, south of Cairo, will be installed shortly, Energy Minister Hassan Yunis said. The project, which is being executed in stages, began in January 2008 and will go into full operation in October 2010, he said. He added that the Global Environment Facility had contributed a $50-million-dollar grant towards completing the project, while the Japanese government contributed a 170-million-dollar soft loan to be paid over 30 years with a 0.75 per cent annual interest rate following a ten-year grace period.
MAKMUM in Egypt
The Malaysian Universities Student Entrepreneurship Council (Makmum) is looking to Egypt to enhance its activities among Malaysian students there. Deputy Minister for Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development, Datuk Saiffuddin Abdullah, said Egypt was a prime destination to set up a Makmum branch since the country was a pioneer in overseas entrepreneurship. Egypt is host to more than 8,000 Malaysian students doing Islamic and medical studies.
Chinese investment
An Egyptian-Chinese joint venture for producing non-woven textiles in the Eastern Egyptian Gulf of Suez region recently went into operation. The project cost some $12.5 million and is creating jobs for around 250 workers. Up to 70 percent of its production will be for export. According to Beijing’s ambassador to Cairo, the volume of the Chinese investment in Egypt hit $4.5 billion.
Egypt, Vietnam protocol
Egypt and Vietnam recently signed a cooperation protocol regarding the exploration for and production of oil, and the exchange of expertise and information relevant to the oil sector. The protocol was inked during the fourth Egyptian-Vietnamese committee meetings on enhancing economic and technical cooperation and enhancing trade exchange between the two countries.
Guest of honour
Egypt will be guest of honour in three international book fairs in 2009, in Tokyo, Torino, and Expo America in New York. Nasser al-Ansari, head of the General Egyptian Book Organisation, said Egypt’s participation in the Torino book fair takes place within the celebration of 2009 as the year of the Egyptian culture in Italy. The Tokyo fair is scheduled for next July and Expo America begins on 28 May.
Tal al-Masharba antiquities
The region of Tal al-Masharba in Sinai is now an archaeological site subject to the Antiquities Protection Law. The area includes Dahab harbour which, during the 1st and 2nd centuries, served trade between East and West. An ancient lighthouse, storage facilities and trade service offices were found in the region during the last decade.
Heritage database
The general management for the Folklore Atlas will begin establishing the first database for the moulids, popular celebrations in honour of saints, in Egypt. The move, Ikhlass Attallah writes, aims to document the old traditions and customs related to moulids such as fortune telling, palm reading, and folk songs, which could be wiped out gradually by the lapse of time. Atlas researchers have begun collecting data by taking snapshots and video films of these celebrations since last July. Among these moulids are that of al-Sayeda Nafisa, (one of the Prophet Mohamed’s granddaughters), al-Matarawy, al-Sayed al-Badawi in Tanta, Ibrahim al-Dessouqi in Kafr al-Sheikh, and the famous Moulid Mar-Girgis (St George) in Qena, Upper Egypt, which is held the second week every November and is popular with Copts and Muslims.
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