{"id":553937,"date":"2021-12-14T03:57:05","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T03:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/12\/14\/this-morning-did-germany-just-give-our-energy-hub-ambitions-by-shunning-russias-nord-stream-2-pipeline-plus-us-fed-meeting-and-egypts-steel-license-inquiry-today\/"},"modified":"2021-12-14T03:57:05","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T03:57:05","slug":"this-morning-did-germany-just-give-our-energy-hub-ambitions-by-shunning-russias-nord-stream-2-pipeline-plus-us-fed-meeting-and-egypts-steel-license-inquiry-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/12\/14\/this-morning-did-germany-just-give-our-energy-hub-ambitions-by-shunning-russias-nord-stream-2-pipeline-plus-us-fed-meeting-and-egypts-steel-license-inquiry-today\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: Did Germany just give our energy hub ambitions by shunning Russia\u2019s Nord Stream 2 pipeline? Plus: US Fed meeting and Egypt\u2019s steel license inquiry today."},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends, and happy hump day. <\/strong>Before we get underway, a quick note that we will not be publishing EnterprisePM this afternoon so that the whole team can get together with our friends at Inktank for our annual Christmas \/ end-of-year get-together on the roof of Enterprise World Headquarters.<\/p>\n

EnterprisePM will be back in your inboxes at its appointed hour tomorrow afternoon. <\/strong>In the meantime, we hope you\u2019re looking forward to your own office Christmas party \u2014 and that it isn\u2019t, you know, an Office Christmas Party<\/a>.<\/p>\n

HAPPENING TODAY-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Egypt Economic Summit<\/a><\/strong> takes place today <\/strong>at the St. Regis Hotel. The one-day event will feature a range of panelists from institutions including CIB, EFG Hermes, the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, Eastern Company, Oriental Weavers, Microsoft and Danone, among others. The full agenda is here (pdf)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Steel license inquiry session today:<\/strong> Companies interested in bidding for a new steel manufacturing license from the Industrial Development Authority will get responses<\/a> to their inquiries on the terms of the license today. The authority will open the door for bidding in February.<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is in Cyprus today for talks with his Cypriot<\/strong> counterpart<\/strong>, according to a statement<\/a>, which did not specify the issues on which the sit-down would focus. Egypt and Cyprus work closely together on everything from energy to maritime security.<\/p>\n

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PSA- More progress updates on the Ring Road:<\/strong> Construction on bus rapid transit (BRT)<\/a> stops, pedestrian bridges and tunnels on the Ring Road will begin next week, Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir said yesterday, according to Al Borsa<\/a>. The BRT lanes in the Middle Ring Road are just about finished, El Wazir said earlier this week<\/a>. The bus rapid transit system<\/a> comes as part of the larger upgrade and expansion of the Ring Road, which intends to widen the freeway and add extensions to ease traffic congestion. The BRT also aims to replace more disruptive public transport on the freeway like microbuses.<\/p>\n

Also moving along:<\/strong> Work on the new Adly Mansour bridge in Tenth of Ramadan, as well as another bridge atop the Saad El Din Shazly tunnel and the intersection between the Autostrad and the Ring Road, are now complete, El Wazir added.<\/p>\n

CORRECTION-<\/strong> In yesterday\u2019s edition of EnterpriseAM, we incorrectly said that the Abu Qir metro will connect Abu Qir to Cairo\u2019s Ramses Station. The line will connect Abu Qir to Alexandria\u2019s Mahatet Masr. Ramses station is commonly and colloquially referred to as Masr Station. The story has been corrected on our website. H\/t to sharp-eyed readers Khaled G. and Shehab Z for the tip.<\/p>\n

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Across the pond: The US Federal Reserve\u2019s Open Market Committee meets today and<\/strong> tomorrow<\/strong>, during which the Fed is widely expected<\/a> to announce it will taper its bond-buying program at a faster rate and telegraph a planned interest rate hike next year. The meeting comes after US inflation soared to its highest annual pace<\/a> since 1982.<\/p>\n

The outcome of the Fed\u2019s meeting could play into the Central Bank of Egypt\u2019s<\/strong> calculations on interest rates here at home<\/strong> when its monetary policy committee meets at the end of the week. As it currently stands, the consensus in our customary poll<\/a> is that the CBE will hold rates steady at its final policy meeting of the year due to uncertainty over foreign inflows and inflation. A Reuters<\/a> poll out yesterday pointed to the same consensus, with all those surveyed predicting a hold.<\/p>\n

ALSO- <\/strong><\/p>\n