Egypt's cabinet abolishes daylight saving time ht
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The cabinet decision came on the heels of a legal amendment initially approved by parliament to scrap the time change system
Ahram Online , Monday 4 Jul 2016
Taxi meters will now start at EGP 4 instead of EGP 3
Ayat Al Tawy , Tuesday 22 Nov 2016
Cairo’s governor has increased the tariffs of the city’s white taxis by 25 percent in the wake of hikes in fuel prices earlier this month, part of a package of government economic reforms.
Taxi meters will now start from EGP 4 instead of EGP 3 for a one kilometer journey, with each subsequent kilometer priced at EGP 1.75, up 35 piastres from the previous rate of EGP 1.40.
The new tariff increases “have been introduced following final approval from the cabinet," read a statement by Governor Atef Abdel Hamid released on Tuesday.
Cabs in the Cairo area had begun operating under the new rates on Monday.
"All prices are going up like crazy and our [fares] have remained the same. That was unfair," a taxi driver in downtown Cairo told Ahram Online.
A committee of experts which imposed the new increases aimed at fair prices for both drivers and passengers, Cairo governorate official Mohamed El-Sheikh said in comments carried by state news agency MENA.
The last time taxi tariffs were increased was in June 2014, when the starting kilometre went up from EGP 2.5 and the subsequent kilometres from EGP 1.25.
White cabs were first introduced in the capital in 2009 to replace rickety black-and-white vehicles which operated without working meters.
Earlier this month, Egypt reduced subsidies of petroleum products leading to an increase in prices at the pump. Lower grade petrol increased by nearly 50 percent to EGP 2.35 a litre, while higher octane fuel rose by over a third to EGP 3.5 per litre.
Natural gas used in vehicles also went up by some 45 percent to EGP1.6 per litre.
The hikes in prices of petroleum products came on the same day the country took the major step of floating the Egyptian pound in hopes of addressing a dollar crunch.
The pound has since slid from EGP8.8 to the dollar to approximately EGP17.5.
The resulting rise in prices has caused concern among many Egyptians.
Egypt is postponing a fee hike in tourist entry visas - a decision announced last week - until July, the country’s tourism ministry said on Saturday.
In statements to state news agency MENA, the ministry said the new fee -- which will increase from $25 to $60 -- will be implemented starting 1 July 2017, instead of a planned 1 March date.
The ministry did not provide a reason for the delay, however, sources in the tourism sector told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that the decision to postpone came after the foreign ministry stepped in to deal with complaints from the tourism sector to the cabinet saying the fee hike was too abrupt.
Representatives from the sector reached out to the cabinet last week to ask it to adjust the timeline for the fee hike, in order to maintain agreements with foreign travel operators based on the old rates.
Egypt last increased its visa fee in April 2014, from $15 to $25.
Some in the tourism sector say the decision should have been announced several months beforehand, expressing fears that the move could affect the country's efforts to revive tourism, a pillar of the economy and a key source of foreign currency.
Egypt has struggled to attract tourists scared off by the political turmoil that followed the 2011 uprising which ousted president Hosni Mubarak.
The country’s revenues from tourism dropped to $3.4 billion in 2016 -- a 44.3 percent decline from the previous year -- the Central Bank of Egypt said in January.
The figure is a far cry from the $11 billion in revenues generated by the sector in 2010, when 14.7 million tourists visited the country.
Egypt's cabinet decided on Tuesday to raise the price of multiple entry tourist visas from $35 to $60, while maintaining the old rate of $25 for single entry visas.
Tourism minister Yehia Rashed said in press statements that the cabinet approved the decision following a meeting headed by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail.
The minister did not specify when the change would be implemented.
In February, Egyptian officials said the country would introduce new visa hikes for both single and multiple entry visas, from $25 to $60 and $35 to $70, respectively.
Shortly after, however, the cabinet decided to postpone the implementation of the new prices from March till July, without giving a reason for the delay.
However, sources in the tourism sector have said that the price measure was postponed after Egypt's foreign ministry received complaints from the tourism sector saying the fee hike was too sudden and would negatively impact the tourism industry.
Egypt last increased its visa fee in April 2014, from $15 to $25.
Egypt has struggled to attract tourists scared off by the political turmoil that followed the 2011 uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak.
Tourism took another hit in 2015 after a Russian airliner crashed in Sinai, leading to the suspension of flights from several European countries, including Russia and the UK.
The country’s tourism revenues dropped to $3.4 billion in 2016 – a 44.3 percent decline from the previous year – the Central Bank of Egypt said in January.
The figure is a far cry from the $11 billion in revenues generated by the sector in 2010, when 14.7 million tourists visited the country.
Egypt has blocked 21 websites, including Qatari-based news network Al-Jazeera, for content it said shows support for “terrorism, extremism,” state news agecny MENA reported late Wednesday.
In statements to the agency, a senior security source said the websites were blocked for their intention to spread lies.
The source only named seven of the 21 websites, including Al-Jazeera, Al-Sharq TV Channel Website, Misr El-Arabia, El-Shaab, Arabi 21, Rasd, and Hamas Online, adding that legal action would be taken against these sites.
Cairo accused several of the websites, including Al-Jazeera, of having ties with the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group, and linked others to being funded by Qatar.
Egypt has long accused Al-Jazeera of carrying out a hostile media campaign against the country since relations between Cairo and Doha soured following the ousting in 2013 of Egypt’s Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, a key ally of the Gulf country.
Other websites that have banned in Egypt include independent news site Mada Masr, which was launched in 2013 by a group of journalists formerly of Al Masry Al Youm’s Egypt Independent, as well as Huffington Post Arabic.
The websites, however, were not explicitly named by the authorities.
Wednesday’s move comes one day after authorities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) blocked the main website of Qatar's al Jazeera TV, which Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
UAE-based cab hailing company Careem raised their fares on Monday in Egypt to cope with the recent hike in fuel prices, according to a statement by the company emailed to Ahram Online.
Head of Careem Egypt Operations and Vice President of Careem Care Ramy Kato said in the statement that “Careem works carefully to avoid putting additional burdens on its drivers while maintaining quality standards of our customers.”
The statement said that the updated fare differs from one city to another.
The company currently operates in several areas including Cairo, Alexandria, Mansoura, Damanhour, Sharqiya, as well as the Red Sea’s El-Gouna and the Mediterranean’s North Coast.
For customers in Cairo, a “value ride” has a starting fare of EGP 5.5, with EGP 2.21 per km and a waiting charge of EGP 46 per hour, while Alexandria has a set starting fare of EGP 6.5, with EGP 2.20 per km and a waiting charge of EGP 36 per hour.
“The company has temporarily suspended the peak factor feature for one week, from 13 to 20 July, and will bear the cost of all price differences throughout this period,” Kato said, adding that the welfare of customers is a “top priority” for Careem.
It is unclear if Careem’s rival, San Francisco-based Uber, will follow suit and increase fares.
The Egyptian government recently cut fuel subsidies for the second time in less than one year.
In November 2016, Egypt’s petroleum ministry announced fuel subsidy cuts as part of its fiscal reform programme, after which Careem increased drivers' wages to cope with the fuel price hikes.
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated on Sunday in Cairo the annual Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Conference, where Egypt’s new e-Visa service was launched.
The online e-Visa system will serve visitors looking to travel to Egypt from any of 43 countries, including the United States, Canada, the UK, France and Cyprus.
The eVisa is an electronic travel authorisation that is stored electronically and is linked to a passport number. Applications for the e-Visa are done online.
El-Sisi also inaugurated through video conference the new technological zones in Beni Suef, Menoufiya and Assiut governorates.
During the inauguration, telecommunication and information technology minister Yasser El-Kady presented to President El-Sisi the first Egyptian-made mobile phone as a gift.
Manufactured in the technological zone in New Assuit City, the Sico Smartphone is the first mobile phone to be manufactured in Egypt, with 58 percent of its components manufactured locally, according to Minister El-Kady.
The Android Smartphone is manufactured by Sico Technology, which is a subsidiary of El-Siyad Salem Group.
The company is set to launch eight models of the Smartphone locally as well as in African and Arab markets.
The ICT conference, which has been held annually for the past 20 years, is Egypt's largest conference for information technology.
According to its organisers, at least 500 Arab and international companies in the IT field have participated in the conference, attracting millions of visitors throughout the years.
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