WATANI International
12 September 2010
Nuclear safety
A delegation of European experts arrived in Cairo earlier this month to extend the agreement on nuclear safety to 2014 through a two-million-Euro grant. Electricity Minister Hassan Younis underscored Egypt’s full commitment to the international agreement on the non-proliferation of atomic arms, and its full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and all international partners to exercise transparency over its peaceful nuclear programme. He pointed out that the European Union has offered a one-million-Euro grant to train Egyptian cadres on nuclear Safety.
1,000 megawatts
Egypt is calling for international bids for the supply and instalment of eight gas powered electricity generating units with a 125-megawatt capacity each. This should add a total of 1,000 megawatts to the national power grid. The country has been complaining of power shortage lately, with increased outages during the month of Ramadan when demand on electricity peaks.
New gas
The Egyptian Oil Ministry has announced it is placing seven new discoveries of natural gas on the national production scheme. The move adds some 270 million cubic feet to Egypt’s daily production of gas, which would thus amount to some six billion cubic feet. The gas discoveries lie in the Western Desert and the Gulf of Suez.
Cairo’s Four Seasons
The Arab Company for Hotel and Tourism Investments, a subsidiary of Egypt’s Talaat Mustafa Group Holding, says it has acquired the stake held by a Saudi company in the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo##s high-end Garden City neighbourhood. The Egyptian company said in a statement that it bought out the 43.7 per cent minority interest in the hotel from Saudi Kingdom Hotel Investments, a subsidiary of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company. It says it paid USD145 million for the stake. The head of the Egyptian group, Hisham Talaat Mustafa, is facing a retrial after being sentenced to death for his involvement in a murder.
Egypt – Lithuania
The Egyptian Junior Business Cooperation recently signed an agreement with the Lithuanian Junior Business Cooperation to activate joint investments and increase the volume of trade exchange between the two countries. The agreement aims to share information and experiences, implement a range of training programmes for workers, and develop investment projects.
Ancient capitals
The Supreme Council for Antiquities has begun a project for protecting the ancient capital cities of the Nile Delta region, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said. The project covers the capitals of the east Delta region of Sharqiya, the north mid-Delta region of Kafr al-Sheikh and mid-Delta Gharbiya, and aims to safeguard these areas against hazards of sanitary drainage and underground water.
Creativity channel
A plan was announced last week for the establishment of a TV cultural channel to be named Ibdaa (Creativity). The channel will be launched jointly by the culture and the media ministries, and is scheduled to broadcast cultural material owned by the Culture Ministry, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said. The ministry is currently setting up more than 100 libraries and cultural centres in villages and hamlets in various regions in Egypt.
Among the top 100
The young Egyptian researcher Tamer Yehia Abdel-Latif was chosen by Cambridge University among the top 100 researchers worldwide in 2010. Abdel-Latif is a teaching assistant at the National Research Centre, and was picked for his work on clean and environmental-friendly nanotechnology.