WATANI International
14 November 2010
Consumer confidence
Egypt moved up 10 points in a consumer confidence index during the third quarter of fiscal year 2010, scoring 98 points to rank 21st worldwide. The latest Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index—Nielsen Company is a global information and measurement company—showed that the global average fell three points to 90 from the last quarter. The finding places Egypt third against the Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates compared to other countries in the Middle East. As a result of Egyptian consumers’ economic outlook, 64 percent stated that compared to 2009, they have changed their spending habits to save on household goods, while this number was 57 percent three months ago.
The Nielsen survey was conducted between 3 and 21September and polled over 26,000 consumers in 53 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America about their confidence levels and economic outlook.
Japanese aid for Palestinian refugees
The Japanese government has extended a USD 85,339 grant to the Palestine Hospital in Heliopolis, Cairo. The hospital is run by the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Egypt, which provides medical services to Palestinian refugees in Egypt. The grant will be used to purchase medical equipment including sterilisers, colonoscopes and ureteroscopes, enabling thus the hospital to improve safety of services and enhance the treatment of cancer and tumours.
Palestinian refugees constitute the biggest refugee group in Egypt; their number is estimated at over 50,000. The grant comes under the Japanese Government’s Assistance Scheme for Grassroots and Human Security Projects which was launched in Egypt in 1994 and has since been used to fund 128 projects totalling over USD5 million.
Facelift for Ramsis Hilton
The Egypt-based Arab International Co for Hotels and Tourism has signed a contract with EHAF Consulting Engineers for the renovation of the Ramsis Hilton Hotel. The USD52 million project, which is set to start in January 2011, will include incorporating designs that meet international standards of quality set by the Hilton Hotels brand internationally. The renovation works are expected to be completed over three stages ending in late 2013.
Child’s rights
The UNICEF’s 6th Regional Media Forum was held in Cairo earlier this month under the theme “Child Rights”. UNICEF Regional Director for Media Abdel-Rahman al-Ghandour hailed the great progress achieved by Egypt in the domain of protecting children’s rights. This year’s theme was chosen to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The 2010 awards included a new photography category in addition to the television, radio, print and electronic media categories.
Violence against children figured high in the forum since, according to Ghandour, 90 percent of children in the Middle East North Africa region are subjected to physical violence. The media and NGOs carry a huge responsibility, he said, in bringing this figure down, especially in the rural and underprivileged areas.
Fortified oil
The national project for fortifying nutritional oil with vitamins A and D has been launched. The project is the joint effort of the Ministry of Social Solidarity, the World Food Program (WFP) and the Global Alliance for Improving Nutrition (GAIN). The aim is to reduce the general deficiency in vitamins A and D, and increase the capacity of the body to absorb iron, thus serving to combating anaemia.