Word: billions
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...much as the spread of the American scent is the expansion of American ownership of perfume houses. Coty, for instance, is owned by the Pfizer pharmaceutical firm, Pierre Balmain by Revlon, and Jean d'Albret by Max Factor. Globally, sales of U.S.-owned perfume firms exceeded $1 billion last year, compared with $737 million for the French. Girding themselves against further U.S. competition, many older French perfume houses have sought mergers with larger European corporations, and a long moribund national perfume-promoting organization called Prestige has been revived. Says Bernard Lanvin, head of the family-owned firm that bears...
...robust foreign receipts. Despite the aid and trade boycott mounted against Egypt by other Arab nations after the peace treaty signing, Cairo can easily meet its foreign exchange needs. The largest source of funds is the money sent home by Egyptians working abroad; this will total $2 billion in 1979, up from just $200 million six years ago. Suez Canal revenues will bring in $600 million and could rise to $1 billion a year by 1982, after the waterway is widened to allow two-way traffic. Another burgeoning source is tourism, which will yield $700 million this year...
Then there is oil. An exporter only since 1974, Egypt will sell $1.1 billion worth of crude this year, accounting for 40% of its trade income. Never a member of OPEC, the country doubled the price of its oil early this year and now charges a robust $34 per bbl., except for what is sold to Israel. Egypt reportedly agreed to sell oil to the Israelis at a price of roughly $27 per bbl. in the hope that this would encourage investment in Egypt by Jewish-American businessmen. Oil-exploration deals have been signed with a number of Western firms...
...boycott will not last long, and may be softening already. In November, says one Sadat aide, the Saudis began sending "signals" that they would not undermine Egypt or the peace treaty; they would go on shipping oil through the canal and the Suez-Mediterranean pipeline, and the $2 billion that they and Kuwait have in the Central Bank of Egypt would not be pulled out. The reason, says the aide: "The Saudis shudder at what is happening in Iran. They are beginning to understand the meaning of peace...
...seriously considering doing so is still fairly short. Coca-Cola, 7-Up and Xerox have set up operations there; Ford, General Motors and Union Carbide have investment projects in the planning stage. Yet Egypt has secured much Western financial assistance. This year it will get more than $1.7 billion in loans and grants, including $1 billion from the U.S. (which is also giving Israel $2.3 billion in aid in 1979). The U.S. assistance, which has totaled about $4 billion since 1976, is channeled to specific projects, such as the modernization of electric-power and water and sewer facilities. (These funds...