Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi spoke about the necessity of reforming religious discourse and other challenges facing the country on the first day of the World Youth Forum 2018 in Sharm El-Sheikh. In a talk during a morning session discussing the role of world leaders in building and sustaining peace, El-Sisi spoke about reforming religious discourse; which comes a few days after a terrorist attack that killed seven Copts and injured others in Upper Egypt s Minya.

Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli held a meeting with Chairman of the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) Guan Qing on Sunday in Shanghai, and discussed the construction works of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, especially the business district. During the activities of the China International Import Expo, Madbouli asserted that the government selected CSCEC to carry out the construction of the Finance and Business district because of its capabilities of achieving the works with high quality. Minister of Commerce and Industry Amr Nassar and senior CSCEC officials also attended the meeting. Madbouli pointed out that the business district will have 20 towers, including the highest tower in Africa at a height of 345 meters, adding that this project is a major civilizational shift and will provide thousands of jobs. Mohamed Salah’s statue displayed in World Youth Forum In October 2017, as part of the mega-scheme New Administrative Capital project, China’s state-owned CSCEC agreed to build Egypt a 345m-high skyscraper, set to be Africa’s tallest building, said Chinese news agency, Xinhua.

Egypt is aiming for an external borrowing ceiling of $14.326 billion (£11.13 billion) in the 2019-2020 financial year, a government document seen by Reuters on Thursday showed. The country expects total foreign debt to reach $102.863 billion and aims to repay $10.326 billion to foreign lenders in the 2019-2020 financial year, the document showed.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will lead a high-level delegation to attend the opening of the 2nd World Youth Forum (WYF) in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh at the invitation of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Palestinian Ambassador in Cairo and Permanent Delegate to the Arab League Diab Al-Loh said Thursday.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed in separate meetings on Wednesday with Germany s interior and foreign federal ministers security cooperation as well as the latest developments in Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Syria. El-Sisi, who is in Germany on an official visit, discussed with German FM Heiko Maas the latest regional developments, stressing that addressing the challenges facing the region requires continued efforts by the international community.

Egypt s Planning Minister Hala El-Saeed has said that the government seeks to achieve a gross domestic product growth rate of 10 percent by the end of the 2029/30 fiscal year. To meet this target, the government aims to reach a growth rate of 5.9 percent in the 2018/19 fiscal year, to gradually increase to eight and then 10 percent in the 2029/2030 fiscal year, El-Saeed said.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Tuesday in a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Egypt aims to boost investment and trade with Germany, and that the two countries have agreed to develop joint security and military cooperation. During the presser, El-Sisi hailed Germany s support for Egypt s battle against terrorism, extremism as well as the economic reform programme Egypt started implementing in 2016.

Egypt s Ministry of the Public Business Sector has prepared a draft law to eliminate the entanglements of companies returning to state ownership. The law, consisting of only two articles, stipulates that re-nationalized companies should be referred to the Investment and Dispute Resolution Committee, to consider how to compensate investors who bought them in good faith.

Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Monday with German Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier at his residence in Berlin, where they discussed economic cooperation and bilateral relations. According to the Egyptian presidency, El-Sisi praised the state of Egyptian-German economic relations, adding that Egypt is happy to host the fifth round of the Egyptian-German economic committee in Cairo in February 2019.

Egypt s Defence Minister General Mohamed Zaki discussed on Monday in Cairo with his Burundian counterpart Gen Niyongabo military cooperation between the two countries, a statement by Egyptian Armed Forces spokesperson Tamer El-Refai said. Saturday s meeting was attended by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid and a Burundian military delegation.

The Finance Ministry auctioned on Sunday 91-day and 273-day treasury bonds at a total value of EGP 18.5 billion. In an online statement, the ministry said it has sold EGP 9.750 billion of 91-day T-bonds with an average yield of 19.709%, adding it accepted bids at rates between 19.724% and 19.001%.

Egypt s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi traveled on Sunday to Berlin on a four-day visit to participate in the G20 Compact with Africa summit at an invitation from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. El-Sisi is expected to hold summits with African leaders and heads of state that are members of the G20 Partnership with Africa.

Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir announced in Khartoum on Thursday that he lifted a partial ban on the import of Egyptian goods imposed since 2017 during a press conference with Egyptian president Abdel El-Sisi, who is currently visiting Sudan. "Today I signed a decision to lift the ban on the entry of Egyptian products to Sudan, to remove all obstacles to the movement of trade and people between the two countries," Bashir told reporters. The decision had an immediate effect, he said.

Egypt will present mining law amendments to parliament within three months to make the industry more attractive to investors, the country s minister of petroleum and mineral resources said on Thursday. The law is of particular interest to investors because of Egypt s potential gold production, with much of the country s gold untapped because of restrictive commercial terms.

The first Egyptian woman to work in costume and scenic design for theatre, Sakina Mohamed Ali, died Tuesday at the age of 85. Many of Egypt s theatre experts and presidents of various institutions and bodies expressed mourning at the passing of the scenography expert.

Egypt s Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla has announced that Egypt will offer the first bid on oil and gas excavation in the Red Sea before the end of 2018 after processing seismic reflection data. During a meeting of the Egyptian-Canadian Business Council, El-Molla affirmed that all the gas and petroleum needs of the electricity sector, industry and households have been met in 2018, adding that the country spends more than $1.5 billion per month due to the international rise in petroleum prices.

Egypt s social solidarity minister has asked representatives of a number of leading US companies to invest in its social safety programmes, describing the country as “vibrant” in terms of opportunities. In a special session held in Cairo by AmCham Egypt, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the US-Egypt Business Council on Tuesday, Minister Ghada Wali urged a visiting US business delegation to invest in programmes introduced by her ministry to curb poverty.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is travelling to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Wednesday, to head the Egyptian delegation to the ministerial meeting of the Egyptian-Sudanese Higher Committee, which will be held on Thursday between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir. Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said that the committee’s meeting comes within the framework of the two countries’ will to hold the committee periodically, in order to activate joint cooperation in all fields, in line with the aspirations of the brotherly peoples of the two countries.

Egypt s Enppi and Petrojet companies accomplished 60 percent of a project for expanding the natural gas network in Jordan. The project will be finalized next October, Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tareq El-Molla said in a press statement on Monday.

Sharm al-Sheikh International Airport and Hurghada International Airport are ready to receive Russian airport security experts to inspect the security measures at the two airports, sources at Sharm al-Sheikh International Airport said on Sunday. The experts are expected to visit Egypt at this week’s end or at the end of the following week, sources added. Russia Minister of Transportation Yevgeny Dietrich said that the two countries approved on October 17 to send Russian security experts prior to considering the resumption of direct flights from the Russian cities to Hurghada and Sharm al-Sheikh.

Egypt s parliament – the House of Representatives – approved on Sunday a three-month extension of a nationwide state of emergency. In a short statement before parliament in a morning plenary session, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told MPs that the extension is still necessary due to security challenges facing the country and the importance of fighting terrorist movements targeting Egypt.