Over 1 million pilgrims benefit from golf cart service at Grand Mosque during Ramadan    Visitors welcomed with Eid initiative at Thee Ain Heritage Village in Al-Baha    Tebuk emir reviews rain response in Tayma    Saudi Arabia considers rent cap as part of major real estate reforms    Messi's bodyguard banned from touchline at Inter Miami games    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Le Pen vows to appeal political ban, calls verdict a 'denial of democracy'    Death toll from Myanmar earthquake rises to 2,719 as rescue efforts continue    Russia, Ukraine trade blame over new energy strikes    Putin orders Russia's largest military call-up in over a decade    Albania hosts MWL chief for Eid sermon at largest mosque in the Balkans    Haramain High-Speed Railway transports over 1.2 million passengers during Ramadan    Saudi Transport Authority says passengers can ride for free if taxi meters are off    Ministry of Education forms 425 community partnerships with SR653 million impact    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Saudi creatives shine at Jeddah's Fawanees Nights with art, fashion, and storytelling    T1 CEO confirms Gumayusi's return for LCK Spring after lineup shakeup    100 Thieves claim Marvel Rivals Invitational NA crown as 2025 scene heats up    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Saudi Arabia hold Japan to goalless draw in Saitama to stay in World Cup hunt    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Egypt tries undoing Mubarak deals
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 28 - 10 - 2012

CAIRO – As Egypt struggles to revive an economy battered by last year's uprising against Hosni Mubarak, private lawsuits are attempting to overturn the sale of state assets during his rule, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.
The court actions present the new government with a dilemma: It's trying to attract foreign investment while addressing the demands of a population that stages protests and strikes almost weekly.
Many protesters demand the return of former state companies to the government, or a renegotiation of the prices of old deals. “I pity them,” says Hisham Fahmy, chief executive of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo, of Egypt's new rulers.
“They're coming on the shoulders of a popular movement and, being the government, they owe it to the public to make sure there is social justice, and that's hard to balance,” he tells Bloomberg Businessweek's Nadine Marroushi.
Potential investors are clearly concerned about the safety of investments. Foreign direct investment for the latest fiscal year was down 84 percent from its 2007 peak.
Most of the disputes relate to a privatization program, started in 1991, that critics of Mubarak say is one of his most corrupt legacies. What ordinary Egyptians especially resent is that the new owners of the privatized companies often forced workers into early retirement, a hot-button issue in a country with high unemployment.
While Prime Minister Hisham Qandil has said the contracts will be respected, “this remains to be seen,” Mona Zulficar, nonexecutive chairwoman of Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes, told an investor conference on Oct. 9. In all, 382 state companies were sold for 57.4 billion Egyptian pounds ($9.4 billion) from 1991 to 2009.
At the eye of the storm is Khaled Ali, a labor lawyer and activist who ran unsuccessfully for the presidency this year. He says he has compiled hundreds of documents to get courts to overturn the investments of many of the foreign companies that bought state assets. In a preliminary hearing in September, Ali persuaded a Cairo court to make a provisional ruling that Mexican cement company Cemex (CX) relinquish its majority stake in Assiut Cement for failure to pay a fair price back in 1999.

“Privatization meant workers' rights were undercut, companies were sold under value, and Egyptian production was destroyed,” Ali says. Sergio Menendez, Cemex Egypt's CEO, who is contesting the ruling, says the litigation “generates a climate of uncertainty.”
In September 2011 an Egyptian court stripped Indo Rama, a large Indian manufacturer of artificial fibers, of its local unit, a textile producer it bought from the government in 2007. The court supported Ali's claim that Indo Rama underpaid, forced workers into early retirement, and failed to improve production. Indo Rama disagrees and has sought arbitration at the Washington-based International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes. “We see better opportunities elsewhere,” says Vishnu Swaroop Baldwa, chief financial officer of Indo Rama.
Some cases are so high-profile that the government gets involved. Damac Properties, a Dubai developer, filed for arbitration at the International Center in June 2011 after the transitional government seized land the company purchased in 2006, and a court sentenced its chairman in absentia to five years in prison, with hard labor, for corruption. The chairman had dealt with Mubarak's minister of tourism, who himself has been convicted of corruption. Egypt has a bilateral trade agreement with Dubai and the other United Arab Emirates, which are important investors in Egypt. The government, so far unsuccessfully, has tried to settle with Damac.
Local investors are getting stung, too. Cairo developer Talaat Moustafa Group (TMGH)'s Madinaty project—Egypt's biggest property development, with 120,000 homes—now faces an uncertain future. In July a panel of judges recommended the annulment of a Mubarak-era sale of the land, saying the sale was not done through public bidding as required by law. Talaat is appealing the ruling in a local court. Ali says his Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights has won seven suits since the 2011 uprising. He promises “more to come.” – Agencies


Clic here to read the story from its source.