These days Sharm El-Sheikh must be the busiest of all Egyptian cities. Sherine Nasr reports No other incident in the past has unified the whole of the business community as the terrorist attack, which took place in Sharm El-Sheikh two weeks ago. Fleets of businessmen, business associations, trade unions and investors have been flocking to the city to hold meetings or even discuss business opportunities. They are all determined to voice one clear message to the world: We are not scared and terrorism will not keep us from moving on. One of the earliest initiatives was led by the business magnate Naguib Sawiris who invited his fellow businessmen to take part in an international music festival to be organised and held in Sharm El-Sheikh at an initial cost of LE5 million. "The private sector has an important role to play," Sawiris was quoted as saying last week. He added that in order to overcome the present ordeal, "we need to adopt creative ideas. This concert is meant to wipe out the sad memories of the latest attacks." Sawiris's initiative came after a number of prominent businessmen agreed that the best way to overcome the negative impact of the terrorist attack in Sharm was to establish a fund supporting the tourist city's most affected sectors. The initiative indicates that the private sector in Egypt is mature enough to play a socially responsible role. Donations by a number of businessmen have already been collected, while others assumed the full costs of damaged shops in the terrorist-stricken shopping area as well as those shops located along the façade of the destroyed Ghazala hotel. The Egyptian Businessmen's Association (EBA) also announced an initiative to organise an international investment conference to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh next September. "International business organisations including Arab, Asian and European multinationals will all be invited. This conference aims at promoting investment in Egypt, particularly in the tourist sector," said EBA chairman, Gamal El-Nazer. Meanwhile, the Egyptian Federation of the Chambers of Commerce called an emergency meeting to be held in Sharm early next week. "We need to investigate the damage in order to know the best means by which we can contribute towards mitigating the negative impacts of the incident," said Khaled Abu Ismail, chairman of the federation who added that members have already begun a campaign to collect donations which are expected to reach LE2 million. According to Abu Ismail, the donations will be handed over to small traders in the city so as to help them start afresh and overcome this unexpected ordeal. Furthermore, the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) will be convening in Sharm late this week to discuss with members of the South Sinai Businessmen's Association the means to promote investment into the area. Officials from the authority also hope to better acquaint themselves with the needs of investors and their visions of the South Sinai's further development. Meanwhile, members of the 10th of Ramadan Investors Association are offering a 50 per cent discount on cement and other building materials that are needed in Sharm El-Sheikh. The initiative comes as a short term plan to help the afflicted area. "Donations by members of the association are now being collected." said Mahmoud Soliman, chairman of the association. The Social Fund For Development (SFD) also decided to provide immediate support to any of the negatively affected small and medium enterprises which are supported by the Fund in Sharm. According to Hani Seif El-Nasr, head of the SFD, assistance may include disbursing additional financing to overcome lack of liquidity, providing alternative sales outlets, re-scheduling loans or in very serious cases exemption from interest payments on loans. In the latest meeting of the Federation of Egyptian Banks, members expressed their support for the damaged businesses. Although banks are not yet decided upon how they could help soften the impact of the attack, suggestions were made to re- schedule the loans and debts of tourism sector businesses in Sharm. It is worth noting that a very ambitious tourist development plan has been growing in Sharm El-Sheikh for the past decade. According to a study of the tourism sector in Egypt recently released by the American Chamber of Commerce, Egypt ranked second in the region and the 14th worldwide in terms of developmental growth in tourism for 2004. This comes largely as a result of an unprecedented tourism development movement in the South Sinai region. This wealth of human as well as investment capital should have been well guarded through proper insurance procedures. This is one reason why the Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority (EISA) is discussing the formation of the first national insurance fund to cover all business establishments against terrorism. According to Mohamed Youssef, chairman of the EISA, the suggested capital for the fund is estimated to be LE10 billion, 10 per cent of which will be provided by national insurance companies working in Egypt, while the government should cover the rest of the fund. "The tourism sector and businessmen are invited to contribute to the fund which will provide immediate coverage for terrorist related damages," said Youssef, who added that the volume of investment in tourism exceeds LE180 billion, which makes it a must to provide proper insurance coverage for such a significant sum of investment.
