Latest news with #MicheleQuaroni
Daily News Egypt
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily News Egypt
Egyptian Countryside Development chief discusses cooperation with Italian ambassador
Amr Abdel Wahab, Chairperson and Managing Director of the Egyptian Countryside Development Company, met with Michele Quaroni, the Italian Ambassador to Cairo, along with his accompanying delegation. Also attending the meeting was Venise Fayed, Advisor to the Chairperson and Head of Business Development at the company. The meeting aimed to enhance cooperation and exchange expertise in several key areas, notably contract farming, renewable energy generation, and irrigation water treatment. Talks explored potential partnerships between the national project to reclaim, cultivate and develop 1.5 million feddans and leading Italian firms specialising in sustainable agriculture, food processing, and green energy solutions. The goal is to draw on Italian expertise to support integrated development and maximise the potential of reclaimed lands. The two sides also reviewed the progress of agreements reached during the ambassador's previous visit to the company's headquarters, affirming their commitment to sustained coordination and to advancing both current and future joint projects. Both parties expressed appreciation for recent achievements and reiterated their shared commitment to strengthening strategic cooperation in a way that benefits both countries and the beneficiaries of the 1.5 million feddan project.
Daily News Egypt
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily News Egypt
Italian firms eager to invest in Egypt across multiple sectors: Italian ambassador
Egypt's Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El-Khatib met with Italian Ambassador to Cairo Michele Quaroni to discuss ways to strengthen economic cooperation and boost Italian investments in Egypt, reflecting the strong strategic partnership between the two countries. El-Khatib stressed that the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade attaches great importance to creating an attractive investment climate and offering facilitation measures for Italian investors. He noted that a comprehensive action plan is being implemented to unlock new avenues for Italian investment. This includes engaging with the Italian business community to showcase cooperation opportunities, streamlining investment procedures, and providing full support. The minister added that these efforts come at a time when Egypt is extending unprecedented support to the private sector and encouraging foreign companies to expand their investments in the Egyptian market. He pointed out that the state has enacted a series of economic reforms in recent years aimed at improving the business environment, simplifying customs procedures, and reducing clearance times to further facilitate investment. El-Khatib also highlighted several sectors of mutual interest that offer promising opportunities for collaboration, including the green economy, water desalination, recycling, and key priority industries. For his part, Ambassador Michele Quaroni expressed Italy's appreciation for the Egyptian government's efforts to enhance the investment climate. He affirmed that continued coordination with the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade would pave the way for deeper cooperation and open new opportunities for Italian investors, particularly in sectors that align with Italy's priorities. Quaroni noted that many Italian companies are keen to invest in Egypt across various fields, praised the Ministry's commitment to supporting existing Italian businesses operating in the country, and expressed interest in exploring the possibility of organising a promotional visit to Italy to present recent developments in Egypt's business environment and investment opportunities.
Zawya
24-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
FRA, Italian Embassy explore cooperation in Egypt's growing non-banking financial sector
Egypt - Mohamed Farid, Chairperson of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), met with Italian Ambassador to Cairo, Michele Quaroni, and his accompanying delegation to discuss opportunities for cooperation in Egypt's rapidly expanding non-banking financial sector and to enhance Italian investments in this promising market. The meeting was also attended by FRA Vice Chairperson Islam Azzam, senior FRA officials, and members of the Italian Embassy's economic and investment team. During the meeting, Farid gave a detailed presentation on the latest regulatory and structural developments in Egypt's non-banking financial markets, particularly highlighting the introduction of the Unified Insurance Law. He described the law as a key milestone in modernising Egypt's legislative and regulatory framework for insurance, aimed at streamlining procedures, expanding digitalisation, and strengthening investor protections. Farid emphasised that the new law is central to improving the quality of insurance services, ensuring policyholder rights, and making the Egyptian market more attractive to foreign investors. He underlined the law's role in supporting Egypt's shift towards a more sustainable and competitive economy. The FRA Chairperson also outlined the Authority's recent initiative to launch a regulated voluntary carbon market, the first of its kind in the region under capital market supervision. This initiative is part of Egypt's broader green transition strategy and presents significant opportunities for Italian companies in clean technology and renewable energy—not just as investors, but as strategic partners in establishing new climate finance mechanisms. Farid stressed that this carbon market is designed to contribute to Egypt's national efforts to transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy, aligned with global carbon neutrality goals. On the topic of financial technology and digital transformation, Farid noted that the FRA is working to build a regulatory environment that supports innovation. He highlighted several initiatives aimed at enhancing the digital infrastructure of the non-banking financial sector to promote financial inclusion and unlock new investment avenues, especially for Italian companies engaged in fintech. He added that the digitisation of non-banking financial services—particularly in insurance, capital markets, and microfinance—is essential to expanding access for all societal segments and aligns with Egypt's broader goals of financial and digital inclusion. 'We are racing against time to digitise non-banking services in support of start-ups and entrepreneurship,' Farid said, emphasising that fintech is a core driver of inclusivity and sectoral efficiency. Ambassador Quaroni expressed appreciation for the FRA's reform momentum and the rapid transformation of Egypt's non-banking financial market. He reiterated Italy's keen interest—at both the governmental and private sector levels—in exploring investment and partnership opportunities, particularly in the carbon market and the digital finance space. The Ambassador affirmed his commitment to facilitating closer cooperation through a series of technical meetings between relevant stakeholders from both countries to move forward on joint initiatives. Concluding the meeting, Farid reaffirmed the Authority's full commitment to maintaining close coordination with the Italian side. He noted that the FRA is ready to provide detailed briefings on key areas of mutual interest in order to translate these discussions into concrete investment partnerships that contribute to economic development in both countries.
Indian Express
17-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Suez Canal offers 15% discount to cargo ships: Will vessels return to the Red Sea route after US-Houthi ceasefire?
Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is offering a 15 per cent discount from May 15 on transit fee to cargo ships of minimum 130,000 mt capacity, underscoring the impact that the Red Sea security crisis has had on the waterway critical to the shortest maritime route to the Mediterranean Sea and beyond from the Arab Peninsula, North-East Africa, and the Arabian Sea. 'The SCA has issued incentives and reductions of 15 per cent on the transit tolls of container ships of 130 thousand tonnes or more in net tonnage (loaded or in ballast) for 90 days,' said Admiral Ossama Rabiee, SCA chairman and MD after a meeting with the Italian Ambassador to Egypt, Michele Quaroni. Earlier, Rabiee also reached out to 25 major shipping line operators and maritime agencies, urging them to gradually return their vessels to the Suez Canal citing the positive development 'towards the return of navigation in the Red Sea'. This came three days after US President Donald Trump announced that Iran-backed Houthi militia had agreed to a ceasefire in the Red Sea. The Houthis maintained that Israel-flagged and -linked ships are not part of the agreement with the US, and they will continue to be targeted . In November 2023, Yemen-based Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, began targeting commercial vessels that they believed were linked to Israel and its key allies in response to its military offensive in Gaza. This crisis prompted the world's major container lines to divert their ships from the Red Sea route and navigate around the Cape of Good Hope. With much of the cargo movement rerouting away from the Suez Canal, its revenue crashed to around $4 billion in 2024 from $10.3 billion in 2023. 'This (discount offered) seems to be a move to bring the container ships, also called boxships, back to the Suez Canal. Bulk carriers and tankships were diverted from the Suez Canal, but these boxships were a major source of revenue for the SCA,' said Anil Devli, CEO, Indian National Shipowners Association. With the SCA offering steep discounts and the apparent calm in the Red Sea, even if fragile, the central question is: will vessels return to this key artery of global shipping and trade anytime soon? The Suez Canal accounts for nearly 12-15 per cent of global trade, according to IMF data. Nearly 30 per cent of global container traffic flowed through the Suez Canal before the Houthi attacks began. It is also a key passage for 8-9 per cent of global energy flows. As of May 11, 2025, Suez Canal's daily transit trade volume (TTV) stood at 484,137 mt, compared with 1,349,086 mt a year ago, shows data from PortWatch, a live conflict tracker maintained by the IMF and Oxford University. TTV denotes the total volume of goods transported through a shipping route. Daily TTV stood at 11,052,600 mt as of May 11, 2025 at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, compared with 1,192,116 mt a year ago, according to PortWatch data. Daily TTV at the Cape of Good Hope moderated to 4,379,612 mt on May 11, 2025, from 5,761,366 mt a year ago. According to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, ports in East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa witnessed a decline in the amount of trade between October 20, 2023 and January 28, 2024 compared to the year-ago period. Shipping costs in the Suez Canal region soared 180 per cent during the period under consideration. 'As firms reroute shipments, the companies that continue to ship through the Suez Canal are likely raising prices to compensate for the higher risk, as well as to take advantage of the reduced shipping supply,' the Federal Reserve of St Louis said. Like various other countries, India was also heavily reliant on the Red Sea shipping route for exports to Europe, with nearly 80 per cent of the volumes going through the Suez Canal. The shifting of trade flows from the Red Sea to the route around Africa have evidently impacted Indian exporters by denting their margins as they now have to contend with higher freight rates for exports to Europe and beyond. With much of India's trade dependent on overseas shippers and foreign-flagged commercial vessels, there is little the country can do in the short term to shield itself from the impact of the Red Sea crisis. While the Red Sea security crisis hit traffic and revenue for the Suez Canal, it also led to higher shipping costs as vessels go around Africa, extending voyage durations—by 10-14 days—and fuel burn significantly, leading to higher freight rates. The longer voyages also made vessel availability tighter, again having an inflationary impact on freight rates. And for vessels still looking to transit the Red Sea, war risk insurance premiums skyrocketed, making the route unviable for most. To be sure, while freight rates have risen as ships chose to go around the Cape of Good Hope, shipping companies have mostly passed on the cost to the consumers, Devli said. During this time, the SCA's revenues crashed, while shipping lines were able to navigate the storm reasonably well, with global majors like Maersk reporting growth in revenue and profit on the back of higher freight rates and strong container demand. 'The Cape of Good Hope route has resulted in ship owners charging higher freight rates, as shown by the earnings of Danish shipping giant Maersk. The company's vessels will continue to sail around the Cape of Good Hope since the declaration of a ceasefire was not adequate,' Devli added. Given that the global shipping lines have adjusted rather well to the new normal of using the longer and safer route around Africa and still protecting—and even growing—their profits, there is little reason for them to return to the Suez Canal route till they are fully confident of the safety of their ships and crew. 'Even if the truce is a step in the right direction, I think many players will remain cautious until there's consistent evidence that navigation is truly safe,' Arturo Regalado, Kpler Insight Senior LNG and Natural Gas Analyst said. The Red Sea crisis has also hit liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows via Suez Canal which plummeted to 4.15 million tonnes in 2024 from 32.36 million tonnes in 2023 and 34.94 million tonnes in 2022 according to Kpler data. Meanwhile, LNG volumes going via the Cape of Good Hope increased by a little over five-fold from 11. 76 million tonnes in 2022 to 59.37 million tonnes in 2024. According to industry watchers, a key factor that is adding to shipping lines' hesitation is the fact that the Houthis are still likely to target Israel's ships and those headed for Israeli ports, potentially making the maritime route volatile and unsafe for other vessels in the region when such attacks or counter-attacks are underway. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
Egypt Today
14-05-2025
- Business
- Egypt Today
Suez Canal offers 15% reduction on transit fees
Suez Canal - FILE CAIRO - 14 May 2025: The Suez Canal Authority has issued incentives and reductions of 15% on the transit fees for container ships with a net tonnage of 130k tons or more starting Thursday for 90 days. Head of the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie said on Tuesday the reductions come in response to the requests of many customers, including owners and operators of container ships, and in an effort to encourage major shipping lines to return to transiting the Suez Canal, given the favorable conditions and relative stability and calm in the security situation in the Red Sea region. The announcement was made during a visit by Italian ambassador Michele Quaroni to the Suez Canal, in which he praised Egypt's efforts to restore stability in the Red Sea region and its continued call for peaceful solutions to end the causes of conflict and restore peace to the region. Quaroni expressed Italy's interest in cooperation with the Suez Canal Authority in the construction of naval units and ship maintenance and repair at the authority's shipyards. He also said Italy is interested in maritime tourism and will encourage Italian yachts to transit the Suez Canal and dock at the canal's marinas instead of going around the Cape of Good Hope. Meanwhile, Rabie said the Suez Canal Authority keeps pace with the rapid changes in the maritime transport industry and flexibly addresses challenges in the Red Sea region. The Chairman of the authority explained that the it is is adopting an ambitious strategy to develop and modernize the maritime and logistics services system provided to its customers, and is seeking to open up partnerships with major international companies in various maritime sectors.
