Good morning, friends. We have a lighter issue for you today, which is a refreshing change of pace after what felt like a cascade of news out of the logistics world over the past weeks.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- An Iranian firm has inked an MoU to form a JV with an Afghan firm to build three new piers at Iran’s Anzali port. Over in Egypt, transport firm Egytrans’ general assembly approved the acquisition of 99.9% of Nosco.

PSA-The Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority has announced the partial closureof Abu Bakr Al Siddiq street in Khor Fakkan for maintenance works, according to a statement.

WATCH THIS SPACE- Russia and the GCC are adopting a “joint action plan” for 2023 to 2028, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a statement cited by TASS. “These documents will be in the public domain,” Lavrov said at the conclusion of the Russia-GCC strategic dialogue, which aimed to focus on strengthening ties between the GCC and Moscow and coordinating on regional and international issues. Russia also noted the importance of boosting cooperation with Saudi Arabia, TASS reported separately.

ALSO FROM THE MEETING-Lavrov stressed that Russia is ready to meet all of its export grain commitments to its “Arab partners,” according to TASS. “We said today we are ready to meet all requirements, including additional requirements, of our Arab partners. No obstacles are in place to do so. No conditions will be required also that would depend on those incapable of performing their obligations,” Lavrov said.

SPEAKING OF GRAINS-Turkey-Russia talks over Black Sea grain pact “last hope” for an extension: Negotiations between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan to extend the Black Sea Grain agreement — which is set to expire next Tuesday, 18 July — are reportedly set to happen next week, Russian RIA news agency reports. Russia is reluctant to extend the 2022 agreement brokered by the UN and Turkey, which allows for grain and fertilizer shipments to depart Ukrainian ports safely, but there’s “no optimism” for an extension, RIA qoutes an unnamed source familiar with the negotiations as saying. The talks are now the “only hope” for an extension, the sources say, with Erdogan pressing Russia to extend the grain agreement by at least three months, according to the news outlet.

Tankers carrying Saudi crude are piling up off Egypt’s Red Sea coast despite signs earlier this week that the backlog was clearing, Bloomberg reports. The number of supertankers anchored off Egypt’s Ain Sokhna port — which is close to an oil pipeline linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean — now stands at eight. At its peak, the backlog stood at 10 tankers. The waiting vessels include two Chinese-owned tankers that have now been floating offshore for more than 50 days, Bloomberg said.

DATA POINT #1- Iran exported USD 3.3 bn worth of mining products in 1Q 2023 (between March and June), Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reports, citing an Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization report. Steel products took the lion’s share of the exports with sales worth USD 1.66 bn. The country also exported USD 262.9 mn worth of iron pellets and USD 204.2 mn worth of other mining products including copper, iron concentrate, sponge iron, and aluminum.

DATA POINT #2- Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh handled 83k tons of cargo in 2Q 2023, a 43% increase in comparison to the same period in 2019, Riyadh Airports Company said in a tweet. Commercial airlines providing freight services also rose 30%, reaching 51 companies, compared to 39 companies in 2Q 2019. Meanwhile, the number of flights for this period also increased 6% to 51k flights, compared to 48k flights in 2Q 2019. No data for the comparable period in 2022 is publicly available.

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.

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.