Egypt may be opening the door to more private sector investment in the freight transport sector. The

country is emerging as a highly active public-private partnership (PPP) market in the Middle East, BMI

reported in June. The government has stepped up efforts privately to procure projects in utilities and

social infrastructure and soon it seemed, transport as well, as demand for basic infrastructure was strong,

but cannot be met solely through public funds.

Burdensome contract enforceability procedures and persistently high inflation are going to be the main

risks, and could prevent the implementation of PPPs as envisaged by the government

Saudi Arabia's rail freight transport network is set for a boost by the end of 2010 with the launch of the

north-south railway, which will cater for the freight needs of exporting mineral's from the Kingdom's

northern mineral belt via a 1,486km railway line to the country's industrial sectors of Riyadh and Jubail.

The amount of freight to be transported on this new route has yet to be announced and so BMI has held of

adjusting our forecasts, but note that the launch of the railway will see upside potential to our current

estimates, which predict rail freight in Saudi Arabia to carry 3.456mn tonnes in 2010.

We assert that rail freight's pro

In February, the World Bank approved a US$280mn loan for the expansion of the second terminalbuilding in Cairo's international airport. The aim is to make Cairo into a regional hub, enabling it tocapture growing traffic between Asia, the Middle East and Africa. This loan complements the financingalready in place for the Cairo Airport Development programme, which relates to the expansion of theairport's passenger and freight handling capacity. The expansion of the second terminal will increase theterminal's capacity to 7.5mn passengers per year and will increase Cairo airport's total capacity to 25mn

In March 2010 the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) further tightened its regulations,demanding that airlines have a minimum insurance cover of US$1.1mn. The new insurance rule meansthat from July 1 2010, if companies do not provide the required documents they will be banned fromflying into or out of UAE airports. The move is part of the GCAA's strategy to tighten its aviation lawsand bring them in line with those in Europe. In February 2010, we reported that the GCAA announced anindefinite ban on the Antonov An-12 aircraft, which came into force on March 1 2010, along with a banon planes registered in five African states. The spotlight had been shone on the UAE's air regulations after

Ataollah Sadr, managing director of Iran?s Ports and Maritime Organization, said at the end of February2010 that the country?s ports capacity was expected to reach 158mn tonnes annually in the next fiveyears, compared with an existing 120mn tonnes, reported IRIB. He revealed that nearly 35% of importsand exports have been carried out through domestic ports, the rest through border customs. He added thatmore than 60% of the import and export activities through domestic ports were being carried out viaShahidRajaeePort, which is located in southern Hormuzgan province