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Doing business & staying in touch

Courtesy and hospitality are important when doing business in Egypt. The host of a business meeting will usually offer tea or a small snack before commencing. It’s polite to refuse the first offer, but once the host insists, the guest should then accept.

Alcohol is legal, but should be avoided until visitors know their Egyptian colleague's attitude towards drinking, and, if acceptable, should be drunk in moderation. It is not considered seemly for women to over-indulge in alcohol. If invited to a business lunch, expect food to be lavish and plentiful.

Throughout the Arab world, it is considered bad manners either to display anger or to openly criticise another person in public. Tact and diplomacy are always required.

In social life, punctuality is almost laughable. For business, visitors should be on time but expect locals to be often late, and do not take offence.

Men should not offer to shake a woman's hand, and vice versa, unless clearly invited to do so. Men and women should dress smartly for business meetings – suits and tie for men; suit for women or smart trousers/skirt/jacket – and always dress modestly. Shoulders and knees should never be shown.

Government offices are open 0830-1330 except Fridays and sometimes Saturdays. Muslim businesses may be closed for an hour and a half during Friday prayers, Christian businesses on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. All offices keep shorter hours during Ramadan.

Economy: 

On taking power in 1952, President Nasser quickly instituted a Soviet-style command economy that was closed to Western investment. After Nasser's death, his successor, Anwar Sadat, gradually dismantled the existing system in favour of a policy of infitah (openness) towards investment. Egypt's economy underwent rapid growth during the 1970s with the swift expansion of the oil industry, tourism and the Suez Canal, and it has continued to expand in subsequent decades.

Annual growth is currently 7% although inflation had crept back to a staggering 18% in the past few years. Unemployment stood at 8.7% in 2008.

The tourist sector is expanding rapidly, particularly along the Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts, despite sporadic terrorist activities of Islamic fundamentalists. Agriculture, which relies on irrigation from the Nile, employs one-third of the working population. Foreign aid, especially from the USA, is an important source of government funds.
Cairo has many hotels and three large meeting halls (seating up to 2,000 people), which are equipped for use as conference centres. The Cairo International Conference Centre, 12km (7 miles) east of Cairo International Airport, has seating for 2,500 people, with an exhibition hall, banquet hall and comprehensive facilities. There is also a convention centre at Alexandria University, which has a main hall with seating for 2,400.

GDP: 

US$180 billion (2009).

Main exports: 

Crude oil, petroleum products, cotton, textiles and metal products.

Main imports: 

Machinery and equipment, food, chemicals, wood products and fuels.

Main trading partners: 

USA, Italy, China, Spain and Syria.

Mobile phone: 

Roaming exists with many international mobile phone companies, although coverage is limited to Cairo, Alexandria and major towns along the north coastline of the Red Sea and the Nile. If you’re in Egypt for some time, it is much cheaper to buy a local SIM card, either Vodafone or MobiNil.

Internet: 

There are Internet cafés in the main cities, including Cairo, Alexandria, Dahab and Luxor. Even small, more remote towns including Siwa will have at least one venue, usually in the market area. Tourists can also access the Internet in hotels, with in-room Wi-Fi available, though often at a hefty price.

Post: 

The postal system is efficient for international mail. Airmail takes about five days to western Europe, and eight to 10 days to the USA.

Post office hours: 

Daily 0830-1500 except Friday; the central post office in Cairo is open 24 hours.

Media: 

The Egyptian press is one of the most influential and widely read in the region, while Egyptian TV and film industry supplies much of the Arab-speaking world with shows from Media Production City, an enterprise launched with a view to creating the "Hollywood of the East". Press laws which allow prison sentences for libel and "insults" have encouraged self-censorship on sensitive issues.

Egypt was the first Arab nation to have its own satellite TV station, Nilesat 101. The country's first private TV stations came on air in 2001, broadcasting via satellite. The state monopoly on radio broadcasting was broken with the arrival of private, commercial music stations in 2003. The Middle East Observer is the main weekly English-language business paper. Al-Ahram Weekly is also published in English. State-run Egypt Radio Television Union (ERTU) operates domestic networks; it also operates satellite networks such as Nile TV International, which broadcasts some programmes in English and Hebrew.

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