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Economy
Cabinet reshuffle
Talk of economics took top billing in town over the past few days,
as a severe crunch inspired a cabinet reshuffle and commentary by
President Hosni Mubarak on people's spending habits.
The cabinet changes were announced on Thursday. In a bid to
streamline the path towards increased exports, the Ministry of
Economy portfolio was eliminated, partly replaced by a new portfolio
called the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Youssef Boutros Ghali remains
the Minister.
Meanwhile, at the Foreign Ministry, a new Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs was named -- career diplomat Fayza Abul Naga got the
job, becoming the first female in such a high-ranking role.
Abul-Naga and Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher will both be leading
Egypt's diplomatic corps.
Mubarak also asked Egyptians who has already performed the hajj once
not to go to Mecca this year, so that the country would save some
hard currency. The president estimated the potential savings at $700
million, and reminded people that the pilgrimage is only required
once. "At such a difficult time it is neither religious nor
helpful to go for pilgrimage again and again,'' Mubarak is quoted by
the Middle East News Agency as saying.
He also promoted domestic tourism as a potential savior from the
severe travel drought the country has been experiencing since
September 11, urging wealthy Egyptians to vacation inside the
country rather than abroad.
(November 25, 2001)
New
developments
Capital
of the Book
UNESCO has chosen Alexandria as the Book Capital of the
World for 2002. The honor coincides with next April's opening of the
Bibliotecha Alexandrina, a re-envisioning of the ancient Alexandria
library of yore. The UNESCO Book Capital torch will move from Madrid
to its new home on the shores of the Mediterranean later this month,
reports Al-Ahram, the move to be accompanied by a gala celebration.
(November 25, 2001)
Commentary
Kids and
Parliament
With the People's Assembly back in session, Akhbar Al-Youm's
"Sobyan wa Banat" youth section recently dedicated its
colorful pages to "Youthful inquires in Parliament".
Amongst the coverage helping kids understand what's going on
underneath the dome, are the answers to questions like "Why
don't we ever hear of no confidence votes against ministers?"
(November 25, 2001)
Music
Clip revenue
on the up and up?
If you are a singer or music producer, the cost to air your video
clip on Egyptian TV has just quintupled from LE100 to LE500 a pop
(for channels 1,2 and Nile TV) and doubled from LE200 to LE400 (on
regional channels and ESC), reports Al-Akhbar. The paper says the
price increase netted the TV Union an additional LE25,000 in its
first month. You won't see video clips during Ramadan, and with
prices like these, one wonders whether we will we see them
afterwards either?
(November 25, 2001)
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(December 17, 2001)
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