Good morning, lovely people. We have another light issue for you today, as the newsflow continues to catch its breath after a hectic few weeks.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- Abu Dhabi-based trading firm Invictus is planning to invest AED 1 bn to expand into North Africa and diversify its logistics business. Meanwhile, IATA data shows that air cargo traffic fell in 1Q 2023, while air connectivity in 2022 saw improvements.

The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) has completed its first ship bunkering operation at the Sokhna Port,according to a statement. Supply ship Karpathos supplied fuel to container ship CMA CGM Suez.May saw the SCZone begin rolling out bunkering services at its ports, with Minerva Bunkering fulfilling its first fuel deliveries to ships that same month.

Indonesia has seized an Iranian-flagged tanker suspected of illegal transshipment of sanctioned Iranian oil after a chase in its waters, Reuters reports. Indonesia’s coast guard has vowed to ramp up patrols due to a “shadow” fleet of tankers — some of which are uninsured — involved in moving sanctioned cargoes from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela piling up near the Singapore Strait, raising fears of oil spills, the agency said.

Meanwhile, Iran and the US are still at each other’s throats in the Arabian Gulf,with Iran accusing the US Navy of interfering with its attempt to counter the smuggling of Iranian oil and gas, Reuters reported separately. The last incident comes only days after another confrontation, where Iran claimed that a Chevron-run tanker collided with an Iranian vessel, Reuters added.

WATCH THIS SPACE- Iran and Iraq could cooperate on production lines to export meds and pharma products to countries in the MENA region, Iran’s state-aligned Tasnim News Agency said.Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber told Iraq’s Health Minister Salih Al Hasnawi in Tehran that Iranian companies are “ready to meet Iraq’s med and pharma needs.” Iraq has already contracted an Iranian firm to produce meds in Iraq and is prepared to lay the groundwork for cooperation with Iran, Al Hasnawi noted.

ENTERPRISE IS LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE of all backgrounds to help us build some very cool new things. Enterprise — the essential morning read on all the important news shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region — is looking for writers, reporters and editors to help us build out new publications. Today, we run four daily Egypt and MENA-focused publications, five weekly industry verticals, and a weekend lifestyle edition designed to make our readers feel just a bit smarter.

We have tons more in the pipeline — come help us build new publications. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >250k daily readers by telling stories that matter.

NEVER WORKED IN A NEWSROOM BEFORE? We have the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program. Whether you are a recent graduate, an industry vet, or looking to switch careers, the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program will give you the tools you need to tell the most important stories to our audience of C-suite officials, government ministers, diplomats, financiers, investors and entrepreneurs.

Not an internship program — a career: The three-month program will see full-time, paid participants take part in workshops and lectures from veteran business journalists on subject matter knowledge, while also working on constructing and filing Enterprise stories that will run on any of our publications. Those who have successfully completed the program, will then be given long-term job offers.

Apply directly to jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention “writing development program” in your subject line.

Hungary's Agriculture Minister is in Turkey to discuss extending the Black Sea grain pact, which allows Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports, the minister said in a statement. The agreement, brokered by the UN and Turkey in 2022 to alleviate the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the world grain supply, is set to expire next Monday, 17 July. Ukraine has become more heavily dependent on Eastern European routes for grain exports, but five Central and Eastern European countries have imposed import restrictions due to cheaper Ukrainian grain hurting their domestic production.

The Hungarian minister aims to address the concerns of Central and Eastern European countries affected by increased Ukrainian grain imports heading their way. The European Union has allowed these countries — Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia — to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian grain while still permitting grain shipments to transit for export elsewhere until 15 September.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS- The Enterprise Finance Forum is taking place on 18-19 September at the St. Regis Hotel in Cairo. This flagship forum is the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only, C-suite-level gatherings that allow senior members of our community to openly and frankly discuss critical issues in key sectors of the economy.

Day one is our Banking Forum, where we’ll dive deep into topics of interest to commercial and investment bankers, from an outlook on the 12 months to come in M&A, IPO, and debt capital markets to the national, regional, and global trends that are (re)shaping our industry.

Day two is all about Fintech and Non-Banking Financial Services. We’ll take a deep dive into everything from the magic of client acquisition to the prospects of consolidation and the coming of challenger banks.

** NEW: MORE NETWORKING TIME- Our agenda includes expanded networking time, including an expanded coffee break and a post-event networking room for you to interact with your peers and speak one-on-one with the team at Enterprise.

TAP OR CLICK HERE if you want to express interest in attending. We’ll be sending out the first batch of invitations just after the 30 June holiday.

Do you want to become a commercial partner? Ping a note to Moustafa Taalab, our head of commercial, or fill out this form and we’ll be in touch.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our agenda in the weeks to come.

MISSED THE ENTERPRISE EXPORTS AND FDI FORUM? Tune in to the Enterprise Podcast to hear what went down: The Enterprise Podcast is back with another installment of our forum series, where we bring you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum,which took place last May.

WANT TO LISTEN? Head to: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami.We’re releasing a new episode every Sunday morning.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- We explored the lessons learned from the industries that have raised our export profile: Food and beverages, fertilizers and chemical products, and textiles and garments. We were joined on that panel by Mohamed Talaat Khalifa, CEO of Concrete, Shams Eweis, corporate affairs manager for North Africa and the Levant at Mars, and Tarek Hosny, head of investments and projects at Fertiglobe.