THIS EVENING: Parliament passes a handful of bills

Good afternoon, dear readers, and welcome to this Monday that has seen our parliament cracking on as they passed a selection of important bills and amended others, meanwhile developments in our region continue to dominate the news.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Parliament had a busy day: The House of Representatives passed in its plenary session a handful of bills, including the expat car-for-FX initiative, changes to the Importers Registry, and a bill handing Abu Dhabi Ports the rights to build and develop the superstructure of the Safaga Port as well as handle its management, operation.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to lead the conversation in the international press:

• Efforts to ensure safe passage to foreign passport holders + to reach a ceasefire have continued to fail as Israel’s bombardment of Gaza did not reduce in intensity and continues to its tenth day. (Reuters)
• A possible visit by US President Joe Biden to Israel? This news comes as Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, visits Tel Aviv today and Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor intends to visit the city tomorrow. (Bloomberg)

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• Could humanitarian aid be allowed into Gaza today? The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza will open today for foreign nationals and humanitarian aid.
• There’s a lot of manufacturing news today, with overseas trips by the SCZone and Trade Ministry lining up nine-figure sums of potential investment from China and Turkey. This is good news for the Madbouly government, which has been on an investment promotion kick using tools including golden licenses and more recent business reforms.
• IFC to help finance our MSMEs — and especially women-led MSMEs: The International Financial Corporation (IFC) will provide state-owned Banque Misr with a USD 234 mn loan for on-lending to privately-owned micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), with half of the loan earmarked for women-led businesses.

🌤️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Look for the mercury rising to a high of 30°C in the daytime and dropping to a low of 23°C in the evening, according to our favorite weather app.