Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made a phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where he congratulated Erdogan on his victory in the presidential elections and his re-election as President of Turkey for a new term. The Turkish President expressed his appreciation for this kind gesture from President Sisi. Fahmy added that the two presidents decided to immediately start upgrading diplomatic relations between the two countries and exchange ambassadors. Erdogan on Sunday announced his victory over rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the run-off round in the 2023 Turkish elections in a conference held in Istanbul. The Supreme Elections Committee in Turkey has not yet announced the official final results.

Sorouh Developments announced the signing of a strategic alliance agreement with RICON Construction and Energy to jointly develop a number of real estate projects with a total investment of EGP 30bn, starting with Entrada and Avenue Mall projects in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) with a total investment of approximately EGP 3bn. It comprises a variety of services in one place including shops, offices, clinics, restaurants and cafes with various spaces. Abdel Zaher elaborated that his company has succeeded in executing real estate projects with various types with high quality using international sustainability specifications. It also owns several companies specialised in the field of real estate development and contracting. In addition to an international consulting office, where the company carries out various projects, including Aster El-Galala, Aster Sheikh Zayed, and Aster El-Maadi.

Egypt’s Finance Ministry accepted about 453 bids to sell treasury bills put forward by the Central Bank of Egypt in its last bid on Thursday. The value of the bills totals LE46 billion by investors, with accepted interest estimated by the Finance Ministry at an average of 23.8 percent for one-year return and a six-month return, ranging from 18 percent to 23.9 percent for both periods. On Sunday, the CBE offered treasury bills worth LE 40 billion in two terms for three months and for nine months, on behalf of Finance Ministry, to be used in paying urgent obligations to ministries and government agencies. By August 29, treasury bills worth LE 22.5 billion for a period of nine months are expected to be issued, and another treasury bills worth LE 17.5 billion for a period of nine months will be issued. The government estimated the target budget deficit during the fiscal year 2023-2024 at LE 824 billion, an increase of seven percent over the last fiscal year, 2022-2023, in which the budget deficit target amounted to LE 558.2 billion.

CAIRO – 29 May 2023: Acting chargé d'affaires at the Egyptian embassy in Bangladesh Mina Makary witnessed the launching of EgyptAir direct airline between Cairo and Dhaka. According to the Ministry of foreign affairs, two flights will be arranged weekly. The Ministry explained that EgyptAir office organized the launching ceremony at Dhaka airport. Bangladeshi State Minister for Civil Aviation Md Mahbub Ali and Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh Mafidur Rahman attended the ceremony.

Experts of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) expect that today, Monday, a slight decrease in temperatures will prevail, so that moderate weather will prevail across the country in the early morning and hot during the day in Greater Cairo, Lower Egypt, and northern Upper Egypt. It will be hot on the northern coasts, very hot on the south of Upper Egypt, nice at the beginning of the night, and cold at the end on the northern coasts. Moderate in the rest of the partsExperts expect that the weather today will witness limited wind activity in South Sinai, the Red Sea mountain ranges, and southern Upper Egypt, with chances of light rain that may be moderate in South Sinai and the Red Sea mountain ranges. As for the temperatures today, Monday, Cairo had a major 31 C degree and a minor 21 C degree, and Alexandria had a major 25 C and a minor 19 C.

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior denied allegations circulated on social media about Arab tourists being subjected to arbitrary procedures at Egyptian airports. “The allegations circulated on some pages loyal to the terrorist [Muslim] Brotherhood regarding the exposure of Arab tourists to arbitrary procedures at airports are baseless,” the Egyptian Ministry of Interior said in a statement on its official Facebook page. Various airports and seaports in Egypt started implementing a set of new measures for providing tourist visas for visitors of different nationalities. Among these nationalities are Turkey, Syria, Iraq, China, Algeria and Morocco. This comes as a push to drive more incoming tourism.

During their joint press conference in February at Al Itihadiyah Presidential Palace, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi stated that he had agreed with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on expanding trade exchange. The top Egyptian exports to Hungary are cotton, vegetables, fruits, cement, fertilizers, and carpets. As for the top imports from Hungary, they are electronic devices, glass, aluminum, fuel, rubber, and organic chemicals. The president expressed appreciation for Hungary for increasing the number of undergraduate and graduate scholarships offered to Egyptian students to 200 starting academic year 2023-2024. The two leaders conferred over strengthening cooperation in the fields of agriculture, water management and irrigation, and transport.

EgyptAir is currently examining the fuselage of a plane after one of is tires exploded on Sunday morning, at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, in preparation for the start of the necessary maintenance and technical work procedures, Egypt’s national flag carrier said on Sunday. In a statement the company explained that one of its planes suffered a tire explosion during the landing of Flight No. MS643 of the B738 model on the landing strip of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, in the early hours of Sunday morning. Fastest recovering airlineThe Athens 2.2 Airline Marketing Workshop, organized annually by Athens International Airport, has named EgyptAir as the ‘fastest recovered airline’ in Africa, ranking amongst the airlines that bounced back the fastest from the coronavirus pandemic. EgyptAir advanced 26 places in the latest global ranking of airlines “Skytrax World Airline”, as it ranked 95th globally after compared to 121st in 2021, while Qatar Airways maintained its first place in the world for the second year in a row.

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Some 170 Palestinian children held in Israeli jails are subjected to different kinds of abuses. This is according to Under Secretary of the Palestinian Social Development Ministry Assem Khamis, addressing a regional conference in Doha on Sunday. He called for protecting the Palestinian children from Israeli violations inside jails. The Palestinian official accused Israel of constantly obstructing the lives of the Palestinians. He also called for holding Israel responsible for violations against Palestinian children.

Egyptian Red Crescent extends support to Sudanese people on the Egyptian-Sudanese border - ERCCAIRO – 29 May 2023: Egypt has received more than 164,000 Sudanese people since the outbreak of the crisis in Sudan in mid-April, Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said on Twitter. Reviewing Egypt’s efforts to support the Sudanese people, Abu Zeid said Egypt has issued thousands of visas to the Sudanese brothers, while women, children and the elderly have been granted access on the spot without visas. The country also provided medications to 1,050 patients with chronic diseases, Abu Zeid said. A humanitarian center was also established by the Egyptian Red Crescent at the border crossings and ensured freedom of movement. There have been no border closures or refugee camps or movement restrictions or discriminatory measures or forced returns, Abu Zeid added.

President of African Federation of Construction Contractors Associations (AFCCA) Hassan Abdelaziz has stated that Africa needs 10 million low-cost housing units annually to meet the increasing population growth. Abdelaziz said that foreign companies were acquiring these projects to reap huge returns and drain the continent’s bounties, especially as they bring their equipment, labor, and all building materials for projects. Accordingly, the Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union Commission agreed to the union’s request, as a preference rate of 7% was granted to African companies in bids funded by the African Development Bank. Abdelaziz added that major alliances and blocs have been established between Egyptian and African contracting companies to develop many major projects in Africa, highlighting the need to rehabilitate African contracting companies. He pointed out that Africa badly needs new and renewable energy projects, road projects, and then housing projects.

Ahmed Fahmi, the presidential spokesperson, said that Al-Sisi affirmed his pride in the strong brotherly relations between Egypt and Iraq on the official and popular levels, as well as Egypt’s keenness on the safety, security, and stability of Iraq. In this regard, President Al-Sisi praised the constructive role played by the head of the Iraqi Government Movement to maintain stability and balance in Iraq. He expressed his country’s appreciation for Egypt’s efforts in supporting Iraq and its keenness to benefit from Egypt’s development expertise in all fields. Later on Sunday, Foreign Minister Shoukry met with Al-Hakim. The Foreign Minister also expressed Egypt’s full support for Iraq in its war against terrorism, based on its support for the safety, security and stability of the brotherly country of Iraq.

The production crew for the series “Mawdou Aeli” (Family Matter) have begun preparing for its third season with filming scheduled to start in September. The comedy series stars Maged al-Kidwany, Lebanese actress Nour Raeis, Rana Rais, Mohamed Radwan, Sama Ibrahim, Taha el-Desouky, Mohamed al-Qass. The social drama tells the story of Chef Ibrahim (Maged al-Kedwany) who suffers from amnesia. His daughter Sarah (Rana Rais), comes to lives with him after many years of living abroad. The film tells the story of a couple who own a fast food cart, who somehow get involved in a drug case and must prove their innocence to the police and catch the real culprits.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has met with members of the Real Estate Development Chamber in the presence of Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Assem El Gazzar, to discuss some solutions and proposals to revive the local property market, Tarek Shoukry, Chairperson of the Real Estate Development Chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, has said. The chamber proposed 10 measures to boost the sector growth and increase its sales. 2) Establish a special unit affiliated to the cabinet to carry out property ownership, residency, and citizenship procedures within 30 days. He highlighted the state’s interest and support for the real estate sector as one of the sectors driving the Egyptian economy with a contribution rate of up to 20% of GDP with job opportunities amounting to 5 million direct job opportunities. He elaborated that the local market enjoys huge investment opportunities and a legislative climate that attracts all investors, and a real demand for all residential units.

CAIRO – 28 May 2023: Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine al-Qabbaj received Friday Syrian counterpart Loai Emad El Din al-Menaged to confer over cooperation in the fields of civil society, governance of the donation system, gender equality, and empowerment of the disabled and vulnerable groups. Minister Qabbaj pointed out that the performance of the Egyptian civil society improved in the past years, and that it has been taking part in many national and developmental projects. Furthermore, an electronic platform was launched to provide services to the civil society, while a national strategy for volunteering will be launched soon. As for the economic empowerment of vulnerable segments, the minister shed light on Takaful w Karama, the monetary subsidies programme, assisting five million families. In turn, Minister al-Menaged requested a technical visit from the Egyptian side to Syria to learn about the Egyptian experience with the NGOs' electronic platform, coordinate fairs, and discuss the delivery of social protection to Syrian workers in Egypt.