Tobacco deemed ‘strategic’

The Egyptian Parliament’s industry committee has urged the cabinet of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly not to sell the Eastern Tobacco Co., according to report by Ahram Online.

Led by Member of Parliament Farag Amer, the committee said the state-owned company serves the strategic interests of the Egyptian economy.

The government recently implemented a program to sell stakes in publicly owned Egyptian companies. The program started by offering 4.5 percent of the Eastern Tobacco Company’s shares on the stock market.

“The tobacco market in Egypt is a very big and profitable one, and the sale of the company could make it fall at the hands of a handful of monopolizers,” said MP Tarek Metwalli.