EGYPT AND JAPAN

Provide basic information about its economy.

-For example, level of economic development, industry sectors, comparative advantage and international trade, status and stage of globalization, membership of world organization, Fortune 500 company presence and so on.

-The International Monetary Fund (IMF) regularly publishes its assessment of the prospects for the world economy. Use the IMFs current analysis to form your own expectations of the immediate economic prospects of the country/region of your interest. (IMF regional reports and Country Reports http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/region.asp)

Business basics (micro level).

What is the basic corporate ownership and governance structure (for example public vs private; family, private or state owned; role of union and financial institutions; and so on).

What is the legal origin (English common law, French civil law, German civil law, and Scandinavian civil law) and its consequence (ownership and control pattern).

Exchange Rate Regime.

Current exchange rate regime (one of the ten regimes per IMF classification). Change of the exchange rate regime in the past years, say 10 years, and/or other major currency events in your countries. (For example, on July 21, 2005, the Chinese government and the Peoples Bank of China officially changed the value of the Chinese yuan (or renminbi, RMB) and also changed the regime from fixed rate (pegged to US dollar) to basket of currencies peg. BBC basket, band, and crawl.)Please indicate the source of information.

Describe the definition and requirement of this regime, specifically what determines the rate and its change, and the responsibility of the country authorities.

Balance of Payment. Absolutely no copy and paste. Table summary preferred.

-BOP status (summarize the past years current account and financial account balance respectively, say 10 years trend) and its relations with currency value (exchange rate against US$).

-The top international trade partner other than US (both import and export) and the change of exchange rate between the two countries.