Egyptian Tourism Minister Hesham Zazou said Egypt is aspiring to activate a future strategy for the conferences industry for the 2014-2018 period. The strategy would be implemented through constructing a number of high-level conferences centers in New Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm Al Sheikh and Luxor by the BOT system at total costs of $ 8.5 billion. Zazou, during his participation in "Politicians Forum" in IMEX Exhibition in Frankfurt, said the projects will provide 90.000 new jobs and will expand the Cairo International Convention and Exhibition Center, along with setting legislations and new laws that serve the conferences industry. The minister added that the participants in the "Politicians Forum" signed declaration of intent to stress their willingness to enhance the bonds of the joint international work in order to promote the industry of conferences tourism. More»

When the 25 January revolution happened in Egypt in 2011, the capital Cairo became the focus of world attention. Millions of Egyptians gathered in Tahrir square to call for bread, freedom and social justice. But millions more watched events from afar. Sixty per cent of the country’s population live outside the big urban centers of Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said. In the latest in her series of reports, Egypt’s challenge, the BBC’s Shaimaa Khalil travels to Upper Egypt to examine the effects of the revolution two years on. "You're going from one Egypt to another Egypt," Yassin Gaber, a young Egyptian journalist, told me on my trip to the south. "You slip into a different world geographically, culturally and politically. People's priorities are a bit different." We were travelling by train overnight, about 600km (370 miles) south, to the town of Nagaa Hammadi on the banks of the Nile. More»

Hamas Movement, a Palestinian Sunni Islamic organization, and its government in Gaza congratulated Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian people, and the Armed Forces on releasing the seven soldiers kidnapped in Sinai last week. In statement released today, the movement stated that setting the seven soldiers free is a new accomplishment for the Egyptian army and a confirmation for the Egyptian sovereignty in Sinai. It is noted that the Security sources announced this morning the release of the soldiers; elaborating that the men were freed following talks mediated by Bedouin tribal leaders. They were handed over to the army in an area south of Rafah, a town straddling the border with the Palestinian Gaza Strip. More»

Seven Egyptian security personnel taken hostage by suspected militants in north Sinai were freed soon after the military started a sweep of the lawless area to secure their release, the army said. The six members of the police and one army conscript were freed through the efforts of military intelligence in cooperation with the “honorable tribal leaders and residents of Sinai,” according to the army’s Facebook page. The release of the seven, who were taken hostage May 16, may have averted a large-scale military operation to free them. Security forces had escalated their deployment in the strategic peninsula, and President Mohamed Morsi had said all options were on the table, while ruling out negotiations with what his office described as “criminals.” Morsi thanked Egypt’s security services in a message posted on Twitter, and also expressed “respect and appreciation to our people in Sinai for putting the interest of the nation above any other consideration.” More»

On Tuesday morning, the Egyptian cabinet unveiled that the number of the inbound tourism to Egypt during April 2013 reached 1.1 million tourists, rose by 5.2% than a year before. The number of the touristic nights amounted to 11.1 million nights; achieving $ 778 million revenues. The European countries acquired the biggest share in the number of the inbound tourists to Egypt, as to 76.7%, followed by the Middle East countries by 13.9%. The council elaborated that the number of the inbound tourists to Egypt rose from April to January by 11.8% to reach 4 million tourists, and the number of the touristic nights increased by 17.4% to 48.2 million nights. The revenues amounted to $ 3.4 billion (16.2%), compared to the same period of the last year. The increase of the inbound tourism to Egypt, from January to April 2013, is remarkable although all the incidents are taking place in Egypt. More»

Once again, a handful of activists has managed to galvanize and inspire Egypt’s grumbling masses in a way no opposition political parties have been able to. Their concept is simple. They are inviting the Egyptian electorate to sign a petition expressing “no confidence” in President Mohamed Morsi, a move they hope will trigger early presidential elections. The response has been eye-opening. So far, 6,000 volunteers for the grassroots campaign dubbed “Tamarod” or “Rebel” have collected over 2 million signatures, according to the group’s spokesman Mahmoud Badr. Egypt’s electorate numbers about 50 million, with half of those voting in the last presidential election. The movement has grown quickly, with opposition parties announcing support, widespread press coverage and black and white leaflets plastered across nearly every Cairo neighborhood. The “Rebel” Facebook page has attracted 150,000 “likes” in one month. At a busy intersection in Mohandiseen, an upper-middle class Cairo neighborhood, at least 20 people stopped last Thursday to sign the leaflets and jot down national ID numbers to verify their identity. “Yesterday was even more crowded,” said Basma Sherif, as she handed out forms. More»

President Mohamed Morsi asserted the importance of reducing inflation rates to protect low-income brackets. The remark came during the president's meeting with Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Governor Hisham Ramez at the presidential palace, the presidency said in a press release on Sunday 19/5/2013. The meeting reviewed Egypt's current economic situation, especially the foreign reserve. More»

The numbers of German tourists visiting Egypt in March and April of this year was higher than the same period in 2010, Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou stated on Monday. A total of 226,000 German tourists visited the country in the last two months, a two percent rise on the figures for March and April 2010, which was considered a year of flourishing tourism, said the minister. In 2010, an estimated 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt, generating $12.5 billion in revenue. The average length of tourist stays, however, grew to 1.5 million nights in March and 1.3 million nights in April of the current year, approximately 10 percent higher than the same period in 2010, Zaazou said. Earlier this month, Zaazou said that Egypt had received roughly 2.86 million tourists during the first quarter of 2013, a 14.4 percent rise compared with the same period of last year. This statement was criticised by some tourism expects, who argued that analysis of the number of tourists was not enough to generate a meaningful comparison between different time periods, as revenues must also be compared. More»

The United States on Monday appointed a special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism as a new State Department report warned about incidents in Venezuela, Egypt and Iran. Secretary of State John Kerry named Ira Forman, a long time director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, as special envoy citing a "troubling trend" of anti-Semitism around the world. Forman succeeds Hannah Rosenthal, who stepped down last year. The 2012 report on religious freedom said an increase worldwide in anti-Semitism was "of great concern." "When political leaders condoned anti-Semitism, it set the tone for its persistence and growth in countries around the world," the report said. "Of great concern were expressions of anti-Semitism by government officials, by religious leaders and by the media, particularly in Venezuela, Egypt and Iran. At times, such statements led to desecration and violence." In Venezuela, the report said state-controlled media published numerous anti-Semitic statements, in particular aimed at opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, a devout Catholic who has Jewish ancestors. More»

Chevron Corp is in advanced talks to sell its downstream assets in Egypt and Pakistan, three sources said, with the planned disposals seen raising around $300 million for the U.S. oil major. Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, is conducting a separate sale process for its assets in both countries, the banking sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter is not public. Downstream operations of oil companies include refining and processing of crude oil, as well as the marketing and distribution of products. The energy firm has received at least three non-binding bids for the assets from interested parties, which include regional and international energy companies, one of the sources said, declining to provide details of the bidders. Some of the bidders are eyeing assets in both the countries, the source said. More»