Cairo upgrades battered taxis
buy canada goose jacket cheap CAIRO (Reuters) Grimy old Fiats and Ladas have long been a defining feature of Cairo creaking taxi fleet, clogging the city streets and sputtering out fumes.
canada goose coats An old taxi weaves through traffic in downtown in Cairo May 5, 2009. REUTERS/Tarek Mostafa
canada goose coats on sale Now the scruffy black and white cabs are giving Canada Goose Outlet way to metered, air conditioned cars assembled in Egypt using kits from firms like General Motors, Hyundai of South Korea and China Chery. Taxis under the French brand Peugeot originate from factories in Iran.
Canada Goose online This transformation is all part of a government backed renewal plan aimed at changing the face cheap Canada Goose of the Egyptian capital.
The program canada goose store has boosted sales for Egypt vehicle makers, hit hard by the global downturn. It is also creating a smarter canada goose uk black friday image for tourists, a mainstay of Egypt economy, while making a start at tackling choking pollution Canada Goose online in the capital.
canada goose store Civil servant Ibrahim Abdel Razeq, 36, like many of Egypt poorly paid government employees, works two jobs. canada goose clearance The scheme meant he could borrow for a cab to drive.
earn 388 Egyptian pounds ($67) a month in my (day) job, which is not enough to provide for my family needs, so I had to work in this taxi in the evening to supplement my income.
The program, launched in April 2009, came as a welcome fillip to Egyptian firms. It only covers cars assembled in Egypt, although the kits to build them are foreign.
Canada Goose Outlet program was launched during the downturn of the economy and helped local automakers during the crisis, said Mohamed Abdel Aziz, an official from the Finance Ministry.
canada goose deals It not only the taxi fleet being renewed. Demand from Canada Goose Parka private buyers has gained canada goose coats momentum, reflecting greater spending power of Egyptian consumers, buoyed by sturdy economic growth. Though the demand slid during the canada goose world financial crisis.
Canada Goose Jackets PERKS was a bad year because of the recession, canada goose clearance sale said Beltone consumer goods analyst Kamal Khedr. Egyptians are buying again, and it is notable in cars.
Under the Finance Ministry taxi program, drivers can replace taxis that are canada goose uk shop 20 years old or more, Canada Goose Online earning 5,000 pounds for the most clapped out wreck and receiving a loan from one of Egypt canadian goose jacket state cheap canada goose uk run banks for a new vehicle.
Perks include tax exemptions on imported parts and repayment of loans by installments at a modest rate of interest over five years. In future, repayment will be possible over seven years.
cheap Canada Goose Under the plan, the ministry aims to replace 50,000 of Cairo fleet of 70,000 taxis. The ministry has earmarked a budget of 560 million pounds for the program first two years of operation.
Beneficiaries include GB Auto, Egypt biggest listed car assembler, which supplied 64 percent of the new taxis in September, up from 52 percent at the start of 2010.
canadian goose jacket GB Auto distributes and assembles vehicles supplied by international firms. It has tie ups with companies such as Bajaj Auto Ltd, Hyundai, Mazda Motor Corp, Mitsubishi Motors Corp and Volvo AB.
Passenger car demand in Egypt canada goose black friday sale overall is growing, driven by robust economic growth of around 6 percent, the taxi plan and relatively low car canada goose uk outlet penetration. Canada Goose Coats On Sale Beltone investment bank says there are about 30 cars per 1,000 people in Egypt, versus about 108 in Canada Goose sale South Africa, 90 in Turkey and 73 in Tunisia.
Passenger car sales were about 134,000 in 2006 and peaked at 199,000 in 2008, Canada Goose Jackets before falling in the financial crisis. Beltone forecasts sales of 194,000 in 2010, back near 2008 levels, and 220,000 and 250,000 in 2011 and 2012.
canada goose clearance sale are expecting the market to continue to witness double digit growth in the coming years, Beltone Ahmed Khalil said.
canada goose clearance are becoming wealthier in some parts of the population and more banks buy canada goose jacket are offering consumer finance, Khalil said, adding that in Egypt traditionally cash economy people were more willing to take on debt.
canada goose Meters buy canada goose jacket cheap in the old cabs usually don work but, if they do, they are routinely ignored because they have not been recalibrated to keep up uk canada goose outlet with soaring inflation.
Canada Goose Parka Haggling has long been common, either canada goose coats on canadagoosesale.biz sale over the price before the journey or at the end over how much a cabby deserved, regardless of how clunky the ride or scruffy the seats.
buy canada goose jacket That ritual has changed with the new white cabs, with their smart checkered line down the middle. They have working meters that are regularly reset with official oversight.
COOLER TRIPS prefer to hail a white taxi because that way I know exactly how much to pay for the fare canada goose factory sale and also because drivers are often more polite, said https://www.canadagoosesale.biz housewife Nagwa Mahmoud, 54.
Cairenes have also been won over by the novelty of a cab where air conditioning doesn mean simply opening a window often a challenge in old vehicles where handles are often bust.
taxi is air conditioned which helps encourage me to do more trips during the summer months. The meter also significantly decreased arguments with customers over the fare price, said Yehia Mahfouz, a 32 year old cabby.
The scheme is helping clean up Cairo image for tourists. Millions visit Egypt each year, often passing through the capital to see the pyramids on the city outskirts. The industry accounts for 11 percent of Egypt gross domestic product.
want to upgrade the entire taxi service and have a better look especially for tourists who complain about the service, the ministry Abdel Aziz said.
canada goose black friday sale The scheme has done nothing to ease the traffic jams that cause the city to seize up on a daily basis. The government is partly trying uk canada goose to tackle those by adding news buses and metro routes. The city of 20 million has just two metro lines now.