Archive for Osama Saleh

Thursday’s papers: Eyes on the Cabinet

by admin
August 2nd, 2012

News updates and analyses about President Mohamed Morsy’s first Cabinet take the lion’s share in Thursday’s papers. After almost one month of ambiguity and following last week's appointment of low-profile former Irrigation Minister Hesham Qandil as prime minister,  the Cabinet is set to be announced Thursday.

State-run Al-Ahram newspaper leads with “Qandil’s Cabinet to be sworn in today before the president and the Nour Party withdraws.” The Salafi party pulled out of the Cabinet in objection to being offered only one ministerial post, says the paper. The state-owned daily goes on listing the names of candidates for different cabinet positions, without giving any details about them. Judge Ahmed Mekky, is expected to head the Justice Ministry, Ali Sabry will take over Military Production,Alaa Ashour Aviation,Ibrahim Ghoneim Education and Ahmed Gamal Eddin the Interior Ministry. The paper also reports that poet and writer Farouk Gouida declined an offer to become culture minister.

Private daily Al-Shorouk says six ministers from Kamal al-Ganzouri’s outgoing military-appointed Cabinet will remain in office, including Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, Finance Minister Momtaz al-Saeed, Minister of Insurance and Social Affairs Nagwa Khalil, Scientific Research Minister Nadia Zakhary and, no surprises here, Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi. The paper also highlights new faces that are emerging from the heart of the old bureaucracy. Osama Saleh, the head of the General Authority for Investment has been tapped for investment minister, Al-Azhar University President Osama al-Abd for endowments minister, the head of the Petrochemicals Holding Company Osama Kamal for oil and Electricity and Energy Holding Company head Mohamed Balbaa for electricity. The paper also reports that the Freedom and Justice Party has taken over the Higher Education and Housing ministries.  

Independent Al-Tahrir newspaper argues that the new Cabinet reflects “a compromise between the Brothers and [Hosni] Mubarak’s bureaucrats.” The privately-owned daily also republishes a column that initially ran in February, bashing then-deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal Eddin, who will now head the ministry. Ibrahim Mansour, the paper’s executive editor-in-chief, wrote the piece in response a talk Gamal Eddin gave before the People’s Assembly days after protests had broken out outside the Interior Ministry demanding an overhaul of the police apparatus.

“The man had spoken to the Defense and National Security Committee of plans to break in the Interior Ministry and the television buildings as well the headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Unfortunately, respectable MPs had given space for this man’s sick imagination,” wrote Mansour.

The column also highlights the family ties between Gamal Eddin and one of the stalwarts of the disbanded National Democratic Party: “General Gamal Eddin is the nephew of Abdel Ahad Gamal Eddin, the leader of the NDP’s last parliamentary bloc … and one of the defenders of the ousted President Mubarak’s policies.

The same paper’s front page leads with “Israel defies the presidency.” In response to Morsy’s denial that he had sent a thank you letter to Israeli President Shimon Peres, the Israeli government published a copy of the letter, says the paper. The Israeli press has complained about what it reportedly dubbed “a deceitful Egyptian operation.”

The paper quotes an Israeli official who had spoken to BBC radio questioning how Morsy’s letter could be false if it came through the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv. “Maybe the pressures that Morsy had faced after news about this letter came out pushed him to deny it,” the Israeli official was quoted as saying.

Al-Shorouk warns of the continuation of sectarian violence that erupted earlier this week in the village of Dahshour. The paper reads:  “War drums are beating in Dahshour and the residents are getting prepared for ‘retaliation.’” Violence broke out in the village south of Cairo last week, leaving a young Muslim man dead. In response, Muslims targeted Coptic businesses and homes, reports Al-Shorouk. The victim’s family had reportedly announced over a mosque’s speaker that it would have revenge. In the meantime, the priests of Dahshour church and members of the Coptic activist group Maspero Youth Union held a protest outside the presidential palace on Wednesday.

Party paper Freedom and Justice advances the Muslim Brotherhood’s war against the media. It dedicates almost a full page to discuss methods of dealing with the media-propagated “lies and rumors” that affect the image of the president. The paper says that a presidential report has identified 13 rumors so far propagated by a number of papers and TV channels. The prosecution of journalists is apparently on the table as one way to stop the humiliation of the president.  

Egypt’s papers:

Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt

Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size

Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run

Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run

Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned

Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned

Al-Watan: Daily, privately owned

Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party

Youm7: Daily, privately owned

Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned

Freedom and Justice: Daily, published by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party

Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned

Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Nasserist Party

Al-Nour: Official paper of the Salafi Nour Party

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Categories Local Press
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New Cabinet no quick fix for flailing economy

by admin
August 2nd, 2012

As Egypt's first permanent government since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak took shape on Wednesday, the first names to emerge suggest a continuity that could aid the economy after 17 months of turmoil.

Yet the new administration's unclear powers and the scale of the challenges it must face dispel any optimism that Thursday's Cabinet unveiling will begin a new era of stability.

Career bureaucrat Momtaz al-Saeed, who has led efforts to secure urgent aid from foreign donors, remains finance minister and Osama Saleh, head of the General Authority for Free Zones and Investment, will lead a revived investment ministry.

For investors who fled in the absence of a stable, long-term government, there are still reasons to worry.

Saeed needs to show broad backing at home for any economic reforms to secure a long-awaited $3.2 billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund. A cabinet including more of his political opponents might have helped.

Parliament, the body that had the best claim to reflect the popular will, was dissolved in June, further eroding the legitimacy of any major reforms by the new administration.

The military leadership that took power from Mubarak now holds a veto over any legislation passed by Islamist President Mohamed Morsy's new team.

Political turmoil is likely to continue as long as there is no new constitution defining Morsy's powers or those of the armed forces, Egypt's power broker for the past six decades.

"This new government is positive in the sense that there is some kind of stability and no surprises," said Said Hirsh of Capital Economics. "But this is not about how capable the government is. It remains to be seen what this government and Morsy can do with the limited powers they have."

He said a major test would be whether Egypt secures the IMF loan to shore up its dangerously stretched finances. That would depend on whether the IMF views army approval of economic reforms as sufficient guarantee that they will be implemented.

New ideas?

Egypt's main share index rose 1.5 percent on Wednesday, adding to a 2 percent gain on Tuesday, as investors greeted the arrival of the new Cabinet a month after Morsy took office.

The new government has, if anything, a tougher task than its predecessor.

Funds are running out to finance government spending and support the pound currency since last year's popular uprising unseated Hosni Mubarak and plunged the economy into crisis.

The economy contracted in the first half of 2012 compared to the second half of 2011 and continued weakness in euro zone economies is sapping demand for Egyptian goods. A spike in world food prices threatens to swell Egypt's import subsidy bill.

Some investors welcomed the choice of Saleh for investment minister, a post that was dropped over the period of army rule.

"Egypt greatly needed the return of the Investment Ministry," said Ehab Saeed, head of research at Osool brokerage. "Saleh has great experience. There's no doubt he will face big difficulties attracting new investment, especially with the absence of a new constitution for the country."

Others were uneasy at an absence of many new faces, which could imply an absence of fresh ideas for shoring up weak foreign reserves and reducing sky-high state borrowing costs.

They also frowned on Morsy's decision last week to promote Irrigation Minister Hesham Qandil to the post of prime minister.

"The names of the economic ministers bring nothing new," said Nader Ibrahim, head of the board of Archer Consulting. "These people did not offer anything new in their recent period in office. I expect the government to fail quickly. Why did they pick a PM who has no experience of the economy?"

Dwindling funds

Once appointed, Morsy's new Cabinet will have to decide whether it should implement new and potentially painful austerity measures to help stabilize government finances and secure foreign financial help.

The outgoing army-backed government, which has been negotiating an IMF loan for months, drew up the new state budget to dovetail with IMF demands. The budget took effect on 1 July at the start of the 2012/13 financial year.

The IMF demanded that any loan get broad political support. At the time, this meant the army-controlled Cabinet needed the blessing of Morsy's Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party took almost half the seats in Parliament.

The FJP refused, saying the government had not provided it with enough details of the proposed IMF agreement or the budget to make a decision.

"A likely scenario is that the Muslim Brotherhood takes a decision in mid-August and an IMF negotiating team arrives in Cairo toward the end of August or early September," said the Western economist.

"If the substance deviates too much, the agreement would have to be renegotiated. If it doesn't, then agreement could be swift. But Morsy and his government are likely to want to make changes, to put new priorities," the economist said.

Although some of the Brotherhood's advisors are keen on reaching an agreement quickly, the official position has been that the final decision to approach the IMF would be made only once a government is formed.

"Our position has been clear all along. We have no objection to an agreement with the IMF, but only after looking at all the alternatives," the FJP's Ahmed al-Naggar, a member of the party's economics committee, said a day after Morsy took office.

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Categories Egypt Economy
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Names of likely ministers emerge

by admin
August 1st, 2012

Egypt's ministers of finance and foreign affairs said on Wednesday they were keeping their posts in a new government being formed by Prime Minister-designate Hesham Qandil, Reuters reported.

Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and Finance Minister Momtaz al-Saeed confirmed they would stay on after a meeting with Qandil, who is due to formally announce his cabinet Thursday.

Nile News, a state-run television station, ran the a list of nominees for the ministerial posts on its breaking news bar. According to a reporter for the channel, Qandil has already finalized the formation of the new cabinet, and some new ministers made statements to reporters at the cabinet building.

The office of the president had said the new ministers would be sworn in on Thursday once the cabinet's formation is announced.

Nile News said Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Ali would maintain his post. Mohamed Rashad, an engineering professor at Cairo University, will reportedly be named transport minister, and Hany Mahmoud, a former director of the cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center is expected to head the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that Qandil also met with Ahmed Gamal Eddin, the director of the National Intelligence Authority, to discuss the possibility of him replacing incumbent Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim.

The website of the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said Nadia Zakhary would remain as minister of scientific research and Nagwa Khalil would remain minister of insurance and social affairs.

Mostafa Mosaad, who was responsible for the education's file in President Mohamed Morsy's presidential campaign, will reportedly be appointed as minister of higher education.

The same website said Qandil had also met with Osama Saleh, chairman of the Egyptian Investment Authority. Saleh is expected to head the Ministry of Investment. Osama al-Abd, the president of Al-Azhar University is tipped for the Ministry of Religious Endowments. Osama Kamal, the director of the Egyptian Petrochemical Holding Company is likely to be appointed as minister of petroleum while Mahmoud Balbaa, the director of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company may be named electricity and energy minister. Governor of Kafr al-Sheikh Ahmed Zaky Abdeen is a possible nominee to head the Ministry of Local Development.

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Egypt unlikely to hit 2012 investment target

by admin
March 22nd, 2012

Egypt is unlikely to lure the foreign investment it hoped for this year as nervous overseas businesses spend small following political unrest there, the chairman of a state-run investment agency said on Wednesday.

However, Osama Saleh, chairman of Egypt's General Authority for Investment, said he expected investment flows into the country to start gathering pace in the summer.

Investment into Egypt slumped last year as a popular uprising overthrew President Hosni Mubarak, prompting investors to withdraw capital and put projects on hold. Egypt is now trying to attract labor-intensive investments and make a dent in its long lines of unemployed people.

"(FDI) is recovering but not, of course, at the previous momentum. I would assume towards the end of the third quarter this year it will start picking up," Saleh said in an interview on the sidelines of an investment forum in Abu Dhabi.

"The reported figure is between US$2.5 billion and US$3 billion which I don't think will be achieved this year," he said, referring to earlier estimates for inflows of foreign direct investment.

FDI is likely to recover slowly as investors deploy a small initial chunk of capital before following through with larger amounts as projects progressed, he said.

However he pointed out that a number of notable investments by multinational corporations, including GlaxoSmithKline and Electrolux, have already been made since the Mubarak's exit.

Saleh said Egypt was looking to market its strengths in labor-intensive industries where the country had strong expertise, such as in agriculture.

"We are looking for real investors…not big in capital as much as big in numbers of people — job creation."

The country still remains politically fragile ahead of a presidential election in May and some international banks are still reluctant to lend into the country.

Other institutions are, however. On Monday, the Japan International Cooperation Agency signed a $1.28 billion loan to help fund construction of Cairo's fourth metro line.

Saleh believed Egypt was making strides towards returning to a time when it was one of the largest recipients of inward investment in the Middle East and North Africa.

"During 2011, it was a little bit vague for outsiders to see how Egypt looked.

"With the transition going smoothly right now towards the presidential election, a lot of stability is coming back — in particular on the political side."

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Categories Egypt Economy
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