Business

11 Feb 2023; MEMO: The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved a $120 million loan for Tunisia to fund small and medium enterprises, the World Bank confirmed earlier this week.

According to the World Bank, the loan aims to finance Tunisian institutions for lending to eligible small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

09 Feb 2023; MEMO: An Iranian official has revealed that China is one of the leading customers of Iranian-manufactured drones and that a large shipment is set to be sent to Beijing, amid the ongoing controversy over Tehran's supply of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia.

09 Feb 2023; MEMO: An agreement to establish a naval base by Russia on the Sudanese Red Sea Coast is moving forward, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov,​​ said Thursday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"You know this agreement has been signed earlier between the two countries and it's only waiting to be legislated," he said at a news conference in Khartoum after meeting Sudanese military chief, Abdul Fattah Alburhan.

08 Feb 2023; MEMO: Panamanian authorities are set to let Iranian naval ships sail through the Panama Canal, despite concerns expressed by the United States against it.

09 Feb 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has offered to pay for new football stadiums in Greece and Egypt in return for their alliance in jointly bidding to host the 2030 World Cup.

07 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkish Airlines have cancelled 170 flights scheduled yesterday, including 152 via Istanbul Airport and 18 via Sabiha Gokcen Airport as the city braces for snow, Anadolu news agency reported.

Yahya Ustun, Turkish Airlines' senior vice president for media relations, said Pegasus Airlines has also cancelled all its flights to Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul.

Egypt's national airline, EgyptAir, incurred losses of about 30 billion Egyptian pounds ($990 million) until 30 June 2022 due to the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, in addition to the increase in jet fuel prices, the minister of aviation said on Monday.

Mohamed Abbas Helmi added that in 2021, EgyptAir obtained a loan of five billion Egyptian pounds (170 million) to pay the salaries of its employees, noting that a large part of the current losses were carried forward from previous years.

06 Feb 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has attracted more than $9 billion in investments in future technologies, including by US giants Microsoft and Oracle Corp, which are building cloud regions in the Kingdom, a government minister said on Monday, Reuters reports.

07 Feb 2023; MEMO: Morocco has launched renewable energy projects worth 20 billion dirhams ($1.95 billion) in the disputed Western Sahara region, Anadolu reported the Moroccan Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Dr. Leila Benali, saying yesterday.

04 Feb 2023; AA: EU ambassadors agreed on a price cap Friday for Russian petroleum products, said the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU. 

"EU ambassadors today approved the price caps on petroleum products ahead of final adoption by the EU Council," it wrote on Twitter. "Important agreement as part of the continued response by EU and partners to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.”