The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) granted the Global Champion Award to Egypt’s Minister of Tourism Rania al-Mashat for Egypt’s efforts in promoting sustainable tourism, WTTC announced on Thursday. https://twitter.com/UNWTO/status/1113785156983296000 “We commend Minister of Tourism Rania Al Mashat and Experience Egypt and for this comprehensive plan to reform their tourism industry,” WTTC wrote on Twitter. This is the first time for a country or a minister in the Middle East to receive such an award, the WTTC said, which was held during the 2019 Global Summit held in Seville, Spain between April 2 and 4. In the report, the WTTC said that the tourism sector in Egypt under Mashat recovered rapidly, as in 2018, the number of tourists increased by 16.5 percent, which is higher than the global average of (3.9 percent). Mashat also expressed appreciation of the Global Champion Award granted by the WTTC, adding that the main goal of the ministry is to enable at least one member of each Egyptian family to work in the sector. https://twitter.com/RaniaAlMashat/status/1113742991045341186 In an exclusive interview with Egypt’s first female Minister of Tourism on the sidelines of the World Youth…
UK Foreign Secretary Asks Egyptian Government for Help to Find Missing 12-Year-Old Girl
The Egyptian government has been asked to help find missing 12-year-old British girl Elsa Salama who was taken away by her father Tamer Salama seven years ago on her last visit to Egypt with her mother. Jeremy Hunt, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, said that the British Embassy in Cairo has asked Egyptian government for help with the case. Elsa is a victim in the battle between her divorced parents. According to the High Court in London, the girl was taken away from her mother, Naomi Button, by a teacher called Salam when the family of three was visiting their relatives in Egypt. The 45-year-old mother has not seen her daughter since and she thinks that Elsa is living at Salama’s family home in Cairo with his mother. Her father, Salama, returned back to Manchester, where he lives, without his daughter and was jailed in 2012 for “breaching orders to arrange his daughter’s return to England, or to reveal where she was,” the BBC reported. However, almost two years later, he was released after a judge ruled that keeping him behind bars was no longer legitimate. He disclosed to judges…
Draft Law to Increase State Employees’ Wages, Pensions Approved
According to local Egyptian media outlets, a bill increasing government employees wages and pensions, previously announced by President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, has been approved by the Egyptian cabinet on Wednesday. The increase of the employees’ pensions will be 15 percent; this will be reflected in a minimum increment of 150 EGP as well as a minimum monthly pension of 900 EGP. The bill sets a minimum bonus of EGP 75 for governmental employees working at administrative entities, ministries, public authorities or all entities governed by civil service law. It also set a 10 percent basic salary increase of employees at state authorities (not governed by civil service law) such as the judiciary, diplomats, state TV and radio employees, teachers and medical professionals. Those governed by the 2016 civil service law abide by a newly-implemented framework in terms of public bureaucracy work. The law was meant at combating corruption and at rewarding as well as promoting employees on the basis of employee performance assessment thus allowing career advancement performance. In the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stated that the state budget amount allocated to the increase in wages and pensions…
Dryve Introduces Egypt’s First Digitized Car Rental Platform
A new thriving tech start-up ‘Dryve’ is tapping a dormant market in Egypt as the first and leading peer-to-peer car sharing platform substituting car rental companies through a digitized app. Dryve allows ‘car owners’ to earn extra income from their idle cars, while allowing ‘dryvers’ access to countless vehicles with rates that are below those of traditional car rental companies. While revolutionizing the transportation space in Egypt, Gamal Aboul Enein, CEO and Co-Founder of Dryve, believed that “Dryve opens up the doors for car owners to easily yield investment from assets that they use only 3 percent of the time.” This way, the startup will heavily influence the local transportation sector that has been going through a transformation throughout the past decade. According to Aboul Enein, the rental car market in Egypt is very fragments with over 75 percent of the transactions taking place in an informal market. Taking that into account, Dryve aims to formalize the market by introducing a platform that monitors these transitions which will ultimately regulate the sector. While each rental car company has fleets of a few hundred cars, the local start-up has managed to…
E-Payment Required For Government Services Starting May
According to a press release issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Finance, Egyptian citizens will be required to pay all government services and state fees through a new electronic payment system starting May 1. The decision, aimed at accelerating the country’s economic reform and lessening reliance on cash in favor for e-payment, was announced on Tuesday. It will concern the payment of services, customs duties, taxes as well as various services. In cooperation with the National Post Authority of Egypt and under the supervision of the Central Bank of Egypt, the ministry installed 7,000 point-of-sale (POS) terminals have been installed at governmental institutes, universities, traffic departments, neighborhoods and registration offices. In order to meet this modern financial leap in a country where a vast percentage of the population does not have a bank account and does not rely on e-banking, the national campaign “Meeza”(benefit/merit) has been issuing national e-payment cards. In a bid to move society into resorting to cashless payments, Meeza is an initiative by the Central bank of Egypt although the cards were released onto the market through the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr. The cards,…
Egypt’s Modern Dance Company Performs the Genius of Zaha Hadid’s Art in France
“The value of the Arab woman lies not in her identity as an Arab, but in her talent,” Walid Aouni, prominent Lebanese choreographer and founder/director of the Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre Company, says, “I want to celebrate that talent and show the audience that the Arab woman can produce art equal to the one produced elsewhere.” For his latest performance in the Pavillon Noir center in France on 28 and 29 March, Aouni was inspired by a powerful female figure that enchanted the world with her stunning and captivating designs: Zaha Hadid. She was the first ever woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the only woman to win the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects. Not only did she ‘liberate’ architectural geometry, but also liberated the chains that prevented women from entering such a male-dominated field. “I met Zaha Hadid in the 80s in Belguim before she was recognized, and I was inspired by her genius and strong will to enter such a male world and completely transform architectural engineering. It took her 20 years before she was accepted and recognized for that,” Aouni…
Retaining Detailed Reliefs, Fifth Dynasty Tomb Uncovered in Saqqara
An Egyptian archeological mission has discovered the tomb of a fifth dynasty official by the name of Khuwy, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Antiquities. The mission, led by Dr. Mohamed Megahed, uncovered the unique tomb of the Old Kingdom official while carrying out excavation and survey work in south Saqqara. The tomb’s L-shaped offering chamber is decorated with relief scenes; the latter are well-preserved as they still retain many of their original colors and the details on the hieroglyphic signs. The viewer can not only spot scenes of men carrying specific meat cuts but also a cow slaughtering scene. Some of the limestone blocks of the tomb were apparently removed to be re-used for the construction of other monuments in ancient Egypt. This tomb’s superstructure starts with a descending corridor that leads to a small hallway or vestibule, including an antechamber decorated with scenes depicting the owner of the tomb before an offering table, as well as a list of offerings and a view of a palace facade. A burial chamber was also uncovered although it hosts the remains of a completely tattered white limestone…
Algeria’s President Bouteflika Prepares to Announce His Resignation, According to State Media Reports
According to a private Algerian TV network Ennahar TV, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will step down after his 20 years of ruling before his presidential term ends on 28 April. Undisclosed sources revealed to Reuters that his awaited announcement might be on Tuesday. In a statement released by APS news agency, the Algerian president will secure the “continuity of the state’s institutions” before he leaves. According to the national Algerian TV reports, Bouteflika and Algerian Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui revealed to a new government where General Ahmed Gaid Salah, who called on the Constitutional Council to end Bouteflika’s term, will retain his position as army chief of staff and vice defense minister. The general was attacked for his stance against Bouteflika and several believed that he is trying to arrange a coup. However, the Constitutional Council can remove the Algerian president from office if he is found unfit for ruling or he can submit his resignation. This news comes after months of avid protests that broke out in Algeria after a press release signed by Bouteflika announcing he would seek a fifth consecutive term provoked widespread discontent and the largest street…
Egypt’s Red Sea Governor Bans Single-Use Plastics
Egypt’s Red Sea governor, General Ahmed Abdullah, has decided to ban single-use or disposable plastics starting from June after agreeing to the proposal submitted by Hepca (Hurghada Environmental Protection & Conservation Association). The ban of the single-use of plastics will apply on any food related outlets, including restaurants, coffee shops, supermarkets, groceries, butchers, fisheries, fruits and vegetables shops and pharmacies, as well as plastic cutleries like knives, plugs, plastic hooks, cups and dishes. The Red Sea governorate will also not give authorization for the production of plastic bags within the city. “The decree is to protect the threatened and endangered species which are severely affected by ingestion, starvation, suffocation, drowning, entanglement and toxicity from plastic remains which affects the human health accordingly,” Hepca said in a statement. An awareness campaign about the negative impacts of plastic on marine life and human health will be launched by Hepca, which will include ground activation with events, giving lectures for public and private schools, clean-up campaigns for islands, beaches and underwater in collaboration with schools, diving centers, and the red sea community. EU-funded initiative was launched by the Egyptian environment ministry in 2017…