Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said that the Ministry of Finance and the Egyptian Tax Authority are getting ready to launch an incentive program under the rubric “your bill, your protection, your prize” which is the first program of its kind to make the citizen a basic partner for the success of electronic taxes. In a statement on Saturday, Maait said that the program aims at creating a new tax culture that urges citizens to ask for a receipt from the shops within the framework of the state plan to merge the non-official economy in the official system. The drive coincides with the steps taken by the state to realize digital transformation and financial inclusion and transferring to electronic systems, including the e-bill system and e-receipt system, Maait said. The program is designed to guarantee a group of incentives, including getting free buying coupons and other big prizes, he said. The program will work on encouraging citizens to interact with the taxes systems and demand bills and receipts, he said.

The Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Arab Company for Drug Industries and Medical Appliances (ACDIMA), affiliated with the Egyptian Health and Population Ministry, Olfat Ghorab announced that there is a plan to produce 76 high-value cancer medicines. During an interview with the Egyptian TV on Tuesday, Ghorab added that the plan also aims to produce cancer treatment in the first half of 2023. She continued that the manufacture of contraceptive drugs will be fully localized, pointing out that producing medicines locally would reduce the import bill, absorb pharmacy and science graduates, and provide medicine on time, at a value that is 50 percent less than its imported counterpart. Ghorab explained that the targeted local manufacturing will be through a foreign partnership in technology transfer from America and France, with production lines and high capacities in accordance with the standards of manufacturing this type of medicine to ensure the safety of the product. She stressed that the Egyptian medicine is known for its high quality and efficiency, revealing that 90 percent of the medicines are provided locally at a value of LE 48 billion per month, adding: “all medicines will be manufactured in Egypt by the end of 2024.”

Launched under the “100 Million Healthy Lives” presidential initiative, this campaign kicked off on July 13, 2021 and aims to build a disability-free healthy generation. The first phase of the initiative includes detecting 19 genetic diseases in premature infants in hospital nurseries that are affiliated with the Ministry of Health and Population, said the ministry's Spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar. He added that the second phase entails screening newborns in all nurseries of university hospitals, private hospitals and health units nationwide.

Lebanese actress Nour, one of the prominent artists of her generation, was part of the Best Arab Film Award Jury in the 2022 Cairo International Film Festival. Nour also co-stars along with comedy actor Mohamed Henedy in the new film Nabil El Gameel. Daily News Egypt interviewed Nour to learn about her new film and other upcoming works. How do you see the state of cinema now in light of the presence of different platforms for a viewing? Since we are talking about cinema, what about your participation in the movie “Nabil El Gameel”?

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a 46-month $3bn arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Egypt. While economic recovery gained momentum in 2021, imbalances also started building amidst a stable exchange rate, high public debt and delayed structural reforms. Russia’s war in Ukraine crystallized these pre-existing vulnerabilities, triggering capital outflows, and, in the context of a still-stabilized exchange rate, reduced the central bank’s foreign reserves and banks’ net foreign assets and widened the exchange rate misalignment,” said Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director. A permanent shift to a flexible exchange rate regime will help mitigate external shocks and prevent imbalances from re-emerging and allow monetary policy to focus on maintaining price stability. Their strong ownership and track record under previous Fund-supported programs and political support for the policy package are important risk-mitigating factors to achieving the objectives of the Fund-supported program.”

Hours before the World Cup final between France and Argentina, the French Football Federation announced that three players of the French national team were infected with the Camel flu or MERS-CoV. According to Mustafa, no scientific evidence has proved its transmission from one person to another until now. Unlike the recently spread COVID-19 virus this strain is rather transmitted from camels to humans. The seriousness of the virus lies in its high morality rate, which reaches 35 percent of all infected people, he added. He also added that the largest infection rate in one country was recorded in Seoul.

CAIRO – 16 December 2022: Personnel of the Egyptian border guards and Sudanese infantry, who are trained to secure borders, have concluded their joint multiday drills, Guardian of the South-2The joint drills took place in the border guard fields training complex within the joint plan to back horizons of military cooperation between the armed forces of the two sisterly countries, the Egyptian Military Spokesman said in a statement on Friday. Commander of the Egyptian Border Guards Emad Al-Yamani conveyed the greetings of Minister of Defense Mohamed Zaki and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Osama Askar to the forces who participated in the training. Yamani hailed the level of professionalism showed by the armed personnel during the training and their capabilities to carry out their joint duties with high efficiency. “The training comes within the framework of enhancing aspects of joint cooperation between the Egyptian and Sudanese armed forces and exchanging experiences in working on the latest systems and methods in the field of border security,” the statement read. Egypt and Sudan carried out the joint military drills Guardian of the South-1 in October 2021 at Mohamed Naguib Military Base in Egypt.

The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) announced, through its official account on Twitter, that Morocco will host the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup. FIFA officially announced the launch of the 2022 Club World Cup in Morocco from February 1 to February 11, 2023. The FIFA Executive Board voted to grant Morocco the honor of organizing the global event for the third time in its history. Morocco hosted the 2013 and 2014 editions of the FIFA Club World Cup. The FIFA did not announce the clubs participating in the tournament.

CAIRO - 16 December 2022: Egypt condemned on Thursday a deadly attack on a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which killed an Irish soldier and injured three others on the previous day in the coastal village of Al-Aqbieh in South Lebanon. “Egypt extends its sincere condolences to the UNIFIL envoy, the government and people of friendly Ireland, and the victim’s family,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry also wished the injured a speedy recovery. “Egypt has stressed the need to respect and ensure the security of the UN peacekeeping elements in light of their pivotal role in promoting peace and stability in accordance with the tasks assigned to them by the Security Council,’ the ministry added. Irish peacekeeper Seán Rooney was killed after his convoy was attacked by “armed locals angry at the UN presence in their village,” Irish reports said, citing preliminary assessments by the UN.

Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa met with Director General of International Relations at the Saudi Ministry of Tourism, Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Musallam, on the sidelines of the 25th meeting of the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism at the Arab League in Cairo. The meeting aims to discuss ways to enhance cooperation between the two brotherly countries in the field of tourism, by activating a number of tourism initiatives, including the tourism education and training initiative, and the development of tourism activities and joint marketing programmes. The Saudi delegation included Vice President of the Saudi Red Sea Authority for Digital Transformation, Khalid bin Fahd Al-Thunayan; Advisor for International Relations, Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Gharib; and Advisor to the President of the Red Sea Authority, Ayman Ibrahim Al-Ibrahim. From the Egyptian side, Deputy Minister for Tourism Affairs, Ghada Shalaby, and Assistant Minister for Technical Affairs, Youmna Al-Bahar, attended the meeting. This comes within the efforts of the two parties to activate bilateral partnerships and enhance regional cooperation in the tourism sector.

Etisal organised its regular meeting within the framework of the Meet the Government series with Khaled Sharif — Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Digital Transformation. In a press statement issued by the organisation, Sherif stressed that the tourism and antiquities sector is a promising sector in light of the Egyptian state’s interest in implementing the digital transformation system in projects related to this sector. Sherif added that the current digital revolution has prompted the ministry to adopt a new strategy. He also said that the ministry has an estimated 30 digital transformation projects, including projects related to infrastructure, which include unifying the e-mail domain, increasing the internet speed in hotels, providing internet in archaeological sites and museums, and connecting internal offices. Sherif called on Egyptian companies and start-ups to submit projects in this regard to the ministry or through innovative new projects that may contribute to revitalising tourism and facilitating the movement of tourists in Egypt.

Nevine Gamea, Executive Director of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA), said that the agency works within the framework of an integrated system to improve the living standards of thousands of families in informal settlements. Gamea praised the continuous cooperation between MSMEDA and the Ministry of International Cooperation in concluding agreements with various donors and international agencies to implement development projects that serve the Egyptian society. Gamea affirmed the agency’s keenness on completing cooperation with development partners during the second phase of the urban upgrading program, given that the European Union and the French Development Agency are among the most important and largest funders and partners of the agency over the years. Darwish referred to the mandate of the European Union to the French Development Agency to implement a second phase of the program and enhance job opportunities under the management of the agency, to be implemented at the beginning of 2023. He stressed the aspiration to complete cooperation with the agency and partner agencies to provide a better life for citizens in these areas.

The agricultural and land reclamation sector accounts for the largest proportion of the total government investments directed to North Sinai Governorate. In this regard, we review the most prominent development projects in the field of agriculture and land reclamation in North Sinai:1- Establishing (8) agricultural communities in North Sinai Governorate. 2- Establishing the necessary infrastructure for cultivating 13 development communities in the Sinai Peninsula. 3- Protecting major national projects and development areas from the dangers of sand encroachment in the reclamation areas. 6- Drilling and equipping wells, establishing a storage lake in Wadi Al-Azariq, raising dams on Wadi Al-Jarafi, and supplying pumps in North Sinai.

The country has been about a month and a half into the new academic year and now school students are now waiting for the date of the mid-year vacation 2023, as well as the mid-year exam for 2022. School mid-year vacation datesThe mid-year vacation extends from January 28, 2023 to February 9, that is, about 15 days, according to the time map announced by the Ministry of Education since the start of the school year. The second semester 2022 for all educational levels begins on February 11, 2023 and extends until June 8, and the end-of-school exams start from June 11 to July 8, 2023. Exam dates for the second semester 2023:On Tuesday, December 13, 2022, Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, issued a circular regarding examination dates for transfer, high school, and vocational diploma classes for the academic year 2022-2023, stating the following:1. The exams for the second semester for students of the transfer and preparatory certificate classes will start on Saturday, May 6, 2023.

Planning Minister Hala el Saeed said Thursday that the investments allocated for the educational sector are estimated at EGP 77.2 billion in the fiscal year 2022/2023. El Saeed’s remarks came as the Planning and Economic Development Ministry issued a report on targets of the 2022/2023 fiscal year as regards educational services. Production of the educational sector is expected to increase to EGP 214.8 billion in 2022/2023 instead of EGP 184.7 billion in 2021-2022. Saeed said education is the cornerstone to develop human resources and enhance knowledge to be up to the latest developments of the era.