Afro-Asian insurance meeting in Cairo UNDER the title of "The Role of Afro-Asian Insurance as a Catalyst for Development and National Economic Prosperity", the Egyptian Insurance Federation has hosted the 22nd Conference of the Federation of Afro-Asian Insurers and Reinsurers (FAIR) through the period from 2-6 October. The conference discussed means of achieving a well functioned insurance market in the African and Asian societies so that it could play a major role in economic growth. Highlighting the repercussions of the political changes in the region, the conference discussed means that would enable the sector to cover all the damages resulting from popular uprisings, strikes and political violence. Adel Monir, deputy chairman at the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA), affirmed that a strong insurance and reinsurance market is an essential characteristic for economic growth. He stated that 453 insurance companies operated in the Egyptian market in 2010, adding that the insurance industry contributes 1.2 per cent to Egypt's GDP. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Cairo, FAIR includes 260 members representing insurance and reinsurance companies from 52 African and Asian countries. Egypt slips on Global Competitiveness Index EGYPT'S ranking on the Global Competitiveness Index retreated 13 ranks in 2011, compared to the previous year, to 94th among 142 countries. The index prepared by the World Economic Forum (WEF) highlighted the most problematic factors affecting Egypt's ability to do business, and thus its competitiveness, on the top of which came the policy instability and the inadequately educated workforce. Other impediments included poor access to finance, corruption, and poor work ethics in the national labour force. The countries that constitute the top 10 remain the same as last year, with some ranking changes among them. This includes Switzerland, Sweden and the US. Switzerland retains its first position, characterised by an excellent capacity for innovation and a very sophisticated business culture, strong collaboration between the academic and business sectors, combined with high company spending on research and development. The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the WEF together with its network of partner institutes (leading research institutes and business organisations) in the countries covered by the report. Deposits growth slowing down TOTAL deposits in the banking sector grew by 6.7 per cent in August 2011 compared to its level a year ago. This growth rate is the lowest level in almost two years. The figure has been faltering since the onset of the political upheaval on 25 January. Total deposit growth in December 2010, the last month before the uprising, was 12.3 per cent. According to the Central bank of Egypt's figures, the fall in total deposit growth is led by a fall in local currency deposit growth, which came at 5.5 per cent compared to 7.1 per cent in the previous year. Commenting on the figure, Beltone Financial said the decline, particularly in local currency, was expected in part because of a weakening economy and declining income levels, and because of faltering credit to the private sector. Falling credit to the private sector is due to the crowding out effect of domestic debt purchases by banks, as well as the lack of capital investments by the private sector, limiting their demand for credit. The Brits are here "EGYPT has a very promising investment environment on the long term," said the lord mayor of the city of London, Alderman Bear, during a press conference organised by the British-Egyptian Businessmen's Association (BEBA) on Tuesday. The purpose of Bear's three-day visit to Egypt was to identify current investment opportunities in Egypt for British companies. Bear was accompanied by a business delegation representing the financial services, education and skills development, construction and information and communication technology sectors. "Egypt has a lot of opportunities in the different industries which have developed a lot in the last few years," Bear stated. The British government, he added, pledged to double bilateral trade by the year 2015. "We are aware of Egypt's potential as a fast growing economy." Egypt and the United Kingdom's overall bilateral trade in goods and services in 2009 stood at 2.9 billion sterling pounds. And more than 70 per cent of foreign direct investments in Egypt came from the UK last year. Moreover, about 1.5 million British holidaymakers visited Egypt in 2010 representing almost 10 per cent of Egypt's incoming tourists.
