{"id":626459,"date":"2018-07-03T04:31:37","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T04:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2018\/07\/03\/what-were-tracking-on-03-july-2018\/"},"modified":"2018-07-03T04:31:37","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T04:31:37","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-03-july-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2018\/07\/03\/what-were-tracking-on-03-july-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 03 July 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s PMI Day:<\/strong> The Emirates NBD Egypt purchasing managers\u2019 index reading for June comes out this morning shortly after we hit \u201csend\u201d on today\u2019s briefing. You\u2019ll find it here<\/a><\/u> once it lands. May\u2019s reading had dropped to 49.2 from 50.1 the previous month.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly will present his cabinet\u2019s policy program to the House of Representatives today<\/strong>, Al Mal reports<\/a><\/u>. The program will then be the subject of debate at a plenary session of the House on 9 July, state-owned Ahram Gate<\/a><\/u> reports.<\/p>\n

Madbouly finally gives us a set law on 19 public holidays: <\/strong>Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly issued a decree yesterday listing the 19 public holidays of Egypt throughout the year, according to Al Masry Al Youm<\/a><\/u>. The list of holidays was published on the Official Gazette.<\/p>\n

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia will launch a joint development fund today<\/strong>, Sudan\u2019s Minister of State Osama Faisal had said on Sunday<\/a><\/u>. The three countries had agreed in January<\/a><\/u> to set up a joint investment fund to finance infrastructure projects as part of talks to resolve a deadlock on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Relations between Cairo and Addis Ababa have been warming following both outreach from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to new Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the UAE\u2019s decision in mid-June to extend Ethiopia a USD 3 bn package of aid<\/a><\/u>and investments.<\/p>\n

<\/a> Is Shafik Gabr behind Volkswagen\u2019s latest problems in the US of A? <\/strong>That\u2019s the claim by Bloomberg, which notes that Volkswagen\u2019s US attorneys sent a letter to Congress saying lawmakers\u2019 interest in VW\u2019s cheating on emissions testing (background here<\/a><\/u>) overseas is \u201cthe result of a campaign by a non-US national to try to pressure the company into paying him an unreasonable amount to settle a commercial dispute in Egypt<\/strong>.\u201d One of the two lawmakers to receive the letter was Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (Republican of California), a longtime friend of Egypt. Gabr\u2019s Artoc<\/a><\/u>, which had the rights to VW in Egypt until late 2017, has paid some USD 80k to two firms to provide \u201cstrategic advice on commercial dispute between Artoc and VW corporation related to automobile dealership in Egypt.\u201d Gabr, who has long cultivated ties to senior US lawmakers, was also the pre-revolution partner of Emaar in thel launch of Emaar Misr; the two parted ways in 2007<\/a><\/u>. You can catch the Bloomberg story here<\/a><\/u> or read the congressional filings of Gabr\u2019s two lobbyists here<\/a><\/u> and here<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n

In miscellany this morning:<\/p>\n