shall we, instead of pretending to take imaginary offense. have a laugh. go on. robert de niro as ann romney said was being funny. that's it. and that is it for us tonight. i'm zain very gene at cnn in london. here are the top stories we're following. the european union is expected to file sanctions directly against the wife of bashar al-assad. they will ban her from traveling to the european union. they're also expected to tighten sanctions against syrian government officials. u.s. army staff sergeant robert bales is expected to be charged with 17 counts of murder and six counts of assault and attempted murder today.

bales is the suspect in the killing deaths of afghan civilians. there's no explanation so far why he could face 17 murder charges. bales is being held in a military prison in the u.s. the u.s., france, and other countries are condemning the overthrow of the government in mali. there's been no sign of mali's president since renegade soldiers staged the coup on thursday. the borders are closed. those are the top stories from cnn, the world's news leader. i'm zain verjee and "world business today" starts now. good morning, from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos. and good afternoon from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. you're watching "world business today." and the top stories this friday, march the 23rd. the u.s. president talks up his energy policies throwing his support behind part of a

controversial oil pipeline. hong kong's top job goes to a vote this weekend, but a string of scandals has turned this election on its head. and fans line up for "the hunger games." investors bet big on the blockbuster. okay. we are just a few minutes into the european trading day now and we'll get the numbers in just a moment when they settle. first let's take a look at how the asian markets closed out the week. it was a sea of red as you can see there. australia really dodging any major move there. virtually flat the at the end. the biggest weekly decline for the year, for the whole of asia as a group, that's according to the msci, morgan stanley capital index, down nearly 2% for the week. now why? it's all about export numbers and about industrial production. factory output. you had the numbers coming out from both china yesterday and from germany, the world's two biggest exporting nations,

talking about factory orders weekening. the nikkei logging its biggest one day percentage fall in two months. a lot of that was related to germany. europe is a key export market for japan obviously. the nikkei, as i said, down by one. still at the 10,000 yen level. hong kong down by a little more than 1%. shanghai down by 3% for the week. just a quick number to tell you about, china agricultural bank, that is the third biggest bank in china, reporting this day an unexpected drop in profits. one other stock to tell you about is the fox con. it is the world's biggest contract manufacturer of cell phones. it swung its net profits, they shifted to hiring smart phones. the company that assembles apple's ipad and iphone boasting profits of more than $70 million doubling forecasts by analysts. in 2010 foxconn had profits of

more than $200 million. foxconn stock zpiet the overall fall up by 1% today. andrew, let's look at how the european markets are doing. they've only just hoped. a bit of a mixed picture as you can see. the cac, 1% underneath the flat line. the ftse doing okay. the dax hovering on the flat line. one thing we are focusing on very heavily on in "world business today" is the rising price of fuel and with those rocketing fuel prices right around the world, the cost of crude is still under close scrutiny by many an investor these days. this commodity has been dropping throughout the course of this week as concerns over consumer demand rise. also we've had fears over supply subsiding. right now this is the price of

n nymex crude. it's up to the tune of 46 cents on the barrel trading at $105.81. must point out, it's down from a peak of $108 just on monday's session. at the center of the american fuel price concern is the keystone xl pipeline. this is a proposal that would link canada's oil fields with u.s. refineries on the u.s. gulf coast of mexico. president obama has been blocking so far the full project in its entirety, but on thursday what he did do is he did fast track approval of a key section of this pipeline, namely between oklahoma and texas. that move was part of a tour to pub bli size his energy policies. republican critics argue that more production is required to lower the prices at the gas pums. they say it's done little to expaid yat a plan already scheduled to begin in june which is only a couple of months away

from now. politically the president has to do something here. in an election year, he's got to do all he can to balance the need for jobs and affordable fuel with the costs on the other side of this project and then of course the environmental concerns that are attached to the keystone xl. todd foreman talks us through the pipeline predicament as it stands now. >> reporter: the president is trying to score something of a hat trick with his approach to the pipeline by voicing his approval for the bottom part of it down here to the gulf of mexico. the reason republicans are attacking, however, is they're saying this is more of a local issue. the states and local municipalities can handle this part. what the president is needed for is the upper part, the part that goes across the international border with canada. that's why they're attacking. why do i call it a hat trick that he was trying to pull off here? first of all, he's trying to address the issue of energy independence. about half of the oil we use in our cars, gas, comes from imported oil, oil that comes from other countries somewhere.

about a quarter of that comes from canada, our biggest supplier. the new pipeline by most estimates would bring about 700,000 additional barrels a day. that's not actually a huge amount compared to how much oil we use, but over ten years this number is expected to rise maybe as high as 5 million barrels a day. that would make a big difference. the president wants to say that even as he looks at alternative fuel sources, he's still trying to promote energy independence. the second part of the hat trick. he wants to talk about jobs. the estimates on how many jobs would come from this pipeline are all over the map. some say none at all. the low numbers about 4,000, the high about 20,000. we don't really know. no sitting president at a time like this wants to look like they're against jobs. by approving part of it he's showing some support for some jobs. the last part has to do with environmental issues. the simple truth is environmentalists are very concerned about this. he wanted to address this to some degree. the way this oil is produced up

in canada is an extraction process where it's removed from oil sands up there. environmentalists really don't like this because they say it raises problems of more greenhouse gases. that's been proven. that's one of the concerns. they also worry that with the pipeline running down through the country you can contaminate groundwater sources, particularly around nebraska, where there's some big aquifers. they worry about spill damage from a pipe. that's why i call it an attempt at a trifecta here, a hat trick by the president, because what he's trying to do is address in some way each of those concerns by addressing one part of the pipeline project and hoping that the voters like what they hear and will fall in his favor as a result. todd foreman there. certainly with gas prices heading up higher, energy is a key election issue. quick recap now on what happened

on wall street. plenty of enthusiasm there at the closing bell, but stocks closed lower across the board following sluggish manufacturing data, both from china and from europe as well. the key export economy there, germany. commodities also falling. declines for oil and gas producers. where do we end up? the dow down by .61%. the s&p .75%. as far as the stars of the future are concerned, the markets will recover some of the losses when trading begins a little later this friday. all three major indices, as you see there, on track for a higher open. slightly higher, but higher nonetheless. we're got data on new home sales today. forecasts suggest sales increased in february to in part due to the improving jobs

market. andrew, still to come on "world business today," this american is on his way out of the world bank. tradition dictates that another american is likely to take his place at the helm. some emerging markets have other ideas about the disappointment. we'll tell you about the first really truly global race of the presidency of this prestigious institution. i'm good about washing my face. but sometimes i wonder... what's left behind? [ female announcer ] purifying facial cleanser from neutrogena® naturals. removes 99% of dirt and toxins without dyes, parabens or harsh sulfates. so skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] from neutrogena® naturals. on december 21st, polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space, which would render retirement planning unnecessary.

but say the sun rises on december 22nd and you still need to retire, market. really truly global race of the

welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live on cnn. it's crunch time at the world bank. member countries have just hours to nominate their candidates to land this top job. the bank was founded back in 1944 to battle poverty. it's always had an american president. however, developing countries these days want a bigger say and the u.s. is under increasing pressure to find the best possible contender for this post. >> reporter: he's the man with the weight of the world bank on his shoulders.

robert zoellick. nominated by president bush in 2007. he's finishing his term and stepping down in june. the big question, who will take his place? the deadline for countries to hand in their nominees is friday. as in the past, the u.s. is expected to get its nominee approved even though there may be challengers this time around. those thought to be in the running for the u.s., former obama advisor and clinton administration treasury secretary, larry summers. and senator john kerry, the former democratic presidential nominee. there's also speculation that president obama might decide to nominate a woman. also reportedly being considered, susan rice, the current u.s. ambassador to the united nations. the ceo of pepsi could he and secretary of state, hillary clinton, who's planning on leaving the administration if obama is re-elected. >> president obama could like to nominate secretary of state clinton, but i don't think she

wants it. and i don't think his persuasive powers are likely to move her. >> reporter: so who's likely to get the nod? >> if i had to make a bet, i think of the five, the leading candidate right now is larry summers. >> reporter: in an interesting twist, jeffrey sax, the head of columbia university's earth institute, has expressed interest in the job. he's written an op ed in the washington post titled, how i would lead the world back. sax is critical of the zoellick regime. still, don't hold your breath. >> if the emerging market countries were serious about an alternative candidate, that candidate would not be an american. >> reporter: reports say two other non-american names may also be nominated. we should know who the world bank member countries ultimately choose as their next head later next month. maggie lake, cnn, new york. well, as maggie says, the

u.s. has had a monopoly on the top job until now. the developing world looks like it could be pushing back. represented by at this stage at least two possible candidates. the first one is the nigerian finance minister. now a source says she hasn't actually put herself forward for that job and there's no certainty she even wants it. she would have a lot of support across africa. certainly she is seen as a corruption campaigner, anti-corruption campaigner. she's a harvard graduate. certainly widely well-respected right across the african continent. another predicted candidate is this man, jose antoni oe ocampo. form jericho lum beian finance minister. he has spoken about the need for global protection. he's believed to have the backing of brazil. if either of these two is to end the u.s. domination of the world

bank, nina, they have to form a consensus among the developing countries. u.s. and europe have half the voting power. there is an unwritten agreement which we have spoken about between europe and america. it's interesting, jeffrey sax putting his hand up. he is american. he's certainly not seen inside the world bank as someone they would necessarily want. maybe more by the politicians. he certainly knows about developmental issues and would get quite a lot of support mr. some developing countries, at least that's what i'm being told. >> yeah. then the other interesting person on that last was the woman from pepsi could he. somebody from a developing market. also the interesting thing, she's from the private sector. perhaps she could shake things up at the world bank. very interesting candidates. so far no sign that the status quo may be broken.

certainly when christine legality became the managing director of the imf, the only thing that shattered them there was the fact that she was the first woman to hold that role. after this break, it's set to break box office records. fans of the hunger games prepare to feast on the film as it releases this weekend. it seems as though investors also have something of an appetite of the movie as well. full details ahead here on cnn. and we'll take a break with a quick look at how currencies are fairing this hour. the euro, the pound and the yen are against the u.s. dollar. yen down 83.7 weakening a fraction. the euro strengthening up to 1.32. s bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. it's hugging my body.

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the wait is finally over for fans of the hunger games. the hit book series turned movie franchise releases in cinemas on friday. the film first played out in the united states at midnight. an international ticket sales are now expected to top $300 million this very weekend. these people lined up outside theaters in the u.s. state of kansas. it's being billed as the next "twilight." certainly seems we have a fanatical following too certainly among the book readers. investors are pretty excited as well about the release of the hunger games. this company, lions gate entertainment is the studio behind the film. they've had a stellar start to the year on the new york stock exchange where it's listed. check this out, shares up 75% since january. i will press that one. there you go. 75%. they closed at a record high of

just over 15 dld. lions gate recently acquired summit gate. that franchise is worth $2.5 billion. scholastic, they're up around 25% this year. the publisher of the book. nina, there's still a lot of money when you come up with a good idea in a book. >> certainly is. this book was only written back in 2008, wasn't it, andrew? we mentioned that "the hunger games" is on track to smash some of the box office records. joseph pan deer says the movie's opening this weekend will likely live up to the hype. take a listen. >> reporter: i have been talking to studio sources all day as well as on wednesday and it's just tracking bigger and bigger almost every hour. so the opening day friday, including the thursday night midnight shows which over here in new york is about four hours from now, that's when the ball gets rolling, we're looking at near record sales. possibly in the 70 to $80 million u.s. dollar range.

that's among the biggest in history. that's up there with harry potter, twilight. for the weekend it's going to be well north of 100 million, possibly somewhere in the 140 or $150 million range. again, one of the top five of all time which is amazing because it's not even a sequel. that makes it more spell binding. the box office is on fire. worldwide it could be north of 300 million this weekend which is around what the last twilight movie made. if you can look at that size audience and you see it again for this film, you've got a budget of only about $75 million. you're looking at a very profitable movie. absolutely they will be making two and three in the series. let's turn now to weather and torrential rains in parts of new zealand turning streets into swift moving rivers this week. now nature may be setting the

stage for an encore. the meteorologist is at the international weather center. just how bad is it looking the second time around. pedra? >> they've gone over this the last couple of days. with the soil being actually saturated, that's the concern. even if they get a moderate rainfa rainfall, the problems could be severe. the north eye land of new zealand, in the southern tier of the north islands, around wellington, that's the area where we had winds upwards of 120 kilometers per hour. these areas actually picked up two months' worth of rainfall in just a matter of 24 to 48 hours. that's why the concern is so large. take a look at satellite imagery. a couple of disturbances, australia, this part of the world weather travels from west to east, a disturbance across the southern tier. another one across the coral sea. these are two areas of concern. two separate features, but going to essentially come together

here in the next couple of days as we head on into saturday night into sunday morning. then we're talking about heavy rain showers saturday night as we transition into sunday. southerly flow. the autumn season already in full swing. going to get a southerly surge of air across the south islands. going to feel a little bit like winter for some folks perhaps in the higher elevations. you can see some of the outer bounds of the clouds beginning to move in from the west. pretty good image coming out from earlier this afternoon in new zealand where we have the olympic trials taking place. long jump. we're seeing the partly cloudy skies by meet logical definition there, andrew, about 30 to 60% of the cloud covers. that's how much clouds you have in the sky. pretty nice scene. the clouds will begin to thicken in the next couple of days out there. >> certainly looks fantastic. thanks very much for that. nina? andrew, stay with us here on "world business today." still to come after the break,

the final countdown of the controversial race for hong kong's top job. we'll examine the main contenders and the scandals that have been dominating this de bait. ba. . b. a. debate.

. from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. and i'm nina dos santos at cnn london. back to "world business today." adultery, organized crime, and an illegal basement are just a few of the accusations that have emerged in the race for hong kong's top job.

the selection is usually a predictable process devoid of any controversy. this year the result is not a foregone conclusion, c.y. leung, henry tang and lu are all contenders. tang and leung have taken a battering from mudslinging on all sides. people in hong kong have held protests to criticize the candidates and to call for a more efficient process. instead the decision is made by 1200 committee members chosen for the most part by beijing. whatever the outcome, more demonstrations are expected. ann curran reports that could be embarrassing for beijing. >> reporter: what would normally be a dull and predictable election campaign has recently transformed into a source of

intrigue, uncertainty, and major embarrassment. a few months ago china made it perfectly clear who it wanted as hong kong's next chief executive, but scandal, adultery and allegations of connections to organized crime have turned the system of no surprises on its head. >> they have been using mudsl g mudslinging tactics, smear campaigns to smear each other. so i think the end result is that most people in hong kong realize they should have a real election in which everybody instead of just the privileged members of the electoral college will have a say. >> reporter: on sunday 1200 members of hong kong's election committee made up of beijing backed business and political elites will vote on a new chief executive. it will come down to two main candidates, 59-year-old henry tang who is favored by the tie coops and business community. this week publicly endorsed by

the city's richest man, bill ar lee ka ching. his rivalries, 58-year-old c.y. leung who's more popular with the public who helps the poor in a city that has one of the largest wealth gaps. both candidates have skeletons in their closet. tang, a former finance minister, was seen as beijing's favorite candidate until his campaign was engulfed in scandal. he admitted to having extramarital affairs and constructing an illegal basement in one of his luxury basements here which he then blamed on his wife. leung is widely believed to be a member of the underground communist party in hong kong. the former cabinet member is accused of a conflict of interest in government. his campaign had ties with the members of the triads. he denies the al will he gagtss. analysts describe them as two

rotten apples. >> so beijing is worried that either one becoming chief executive will not bring about stability. there could be demonstrations on the streets. >> reporter: the people of hong kong have already been taking to the streets to voice their disgust and disappointment. beijing has also weighed in publicly on the controversy. the premiere told reporters at the national people's con freps last week, he believed they would elect a leader that enjoys the support of the people. c.y. leung has a convincing lead over henry tang who was originally beijing's man. scandals and protests have forced china to switch sides and it's now pressuring members of the committee to change their votes. the only problem is that some members are now saying they refuse to tow the party line. now if neither candidate gets an outright majority, a new election will be called and that

would be a major embarrassment for beijing. >> this is the scenario that beijing is trying really hard to prevent. it means that beijing would lose face. beijing will have lost control of the situation in hong kong. >> reporter: and control isn't something china gives up easily. it's offered universal sufficient framing to hong kong in 2017. however, after this, many are now wondering if beijing will actually deliver on that promise. anna coran, cnn, hong kong. this is a campaign that has absolutely captivated everyone here in hong kong as you can imagine, nina. it's interesting what analysts are saying about people not towing the line with beijing on who they should vote for. one of those people that she mentioned was the best known business person in asia. certainly in hong kong. he's asia's richest man. he's publicly said after beijing

hinted that people should get behind c.y. leung. he said i am going to stay with henry tang. this is fascinating considering that the business group in hong kong is very, very closely aligned with both the hong kong elite, the hong kong political circles as well as beijing. we're seeing this very public break in the ranks by a very, very powerful hong kong tie coop. this is another angle in what's become a fascinating story. at this stage it does look like c.y. leung is going to be the likely winner on sunday unless it goes to a run-off. >> the rest of the world is watching this also with a high degree of anticipation obviously because hong kong's economy is so huge. bigger than israel's, ireland's, then we've also got to bear in mind that what people want to see, because hong kong is so important from a trade perspective, is some kind of stability and resumption of stability over there after that election. i was just reading, andrew, on the internet that the purchasing power of people in hong kong,

but the purchasing power of the average person in hong kong is number 6 in the entire world. so it gives you an idea of how important this economy is and how important change and reform will be for whoever takes the helm there. >> yeah. just one point to remember there. it is a very wealthy country. as anna pointed out, it also has an enormous rich/poor divide in hong kong which has really forced its way up the agenda. there is a lot of discontent about this growing wealth gap in hong kong, nina, which is certainly playing into the hands of someone like c.y. leung as henry tang, who was originally beijing's choice is seen. he's a billionaire in his own right, tie coop in his own right. this is working against him as well. wealthy place. you're right about the stability. beijing prizes stability above all else. we saw back a few years ago now the first chief executive of hong kong actually left his post early after about 4 or 500,000

people took to the streets in hong kong to protest against various things wrapped up in that were high prices, wealth gap. that sort of thing. beijing responded by pushing the chief executive out earlier than expected and putting a new one in. obviously beijing wants that stability more than anything else. if there is further protests it does put beijing in a very, very difficult position. >> yes. it's certainly one we'll watch this weekend. the election will be taking place on sunday, won't it? they say it's only a game, but when a football club gets its own resort island, you know it's already pretty big business. madrid is going to bring its brand to the united arab emirates. it comes complete with hotels, amusement park and stadium that opens up onto the sea. as al goodman reports, it's a whole new spin of fantasy football. >> reporter: in the presidential box, a place normally reserved

only for the biggest events, like presenting a new football star joining the team. coach jose marino and some of the top stars were on hand for the announcement. >> translator: from now on, we join our reality of our potential or our capacity to create emotion in our name, real madrid to the em rit of russ to build a unique place in the world. >> realma drid island will be a tourist resort at the northern end of the united arab emirates. 45 minutes from the dubai airport. a $1 billion investment. they expect a million visitors when it opens in 2015. there will be a five star hotel, realma drid museum and a stadium that opens to the sea and football training grounds. >> we are very happy to be part

of this project. we have worked diligently on this effort and are delighted to welcome real madrid on the island. >> this is really a unique concept that we call sportainment because it contains both. >> florentine know parrot is a construction magnet. this land used to be real madrid's training grounds which have moved to make room for these office and hotel towers. this is already the world's richest football club with revenues last season of $630 million according to the consulting firm deloit. >> reporter: the new tourist resort will boost their brand globally. al goodman, cnn, madrid. let's see what's going on on the european stock markets. this is the final trading day of a really choppy week.

so far we're 40 minutes into the day. this is where we stand. after a bit of a mixed start it seems we have a positive picture. the stocks rising just slightly in opening trade, but we should also mention that this follows a losing trend over the course of the past four days on fierears a global slow down. so far some of these markets, even if they do manage to recover, half of 1% over the day, andrew. they will have a decline of 2% over the course of the last five trading days. >> yes. very similar story here. the losses for the full week of the broad asia indices is around about 3%, which would make it the biggest weekly loss so far this year. this is how the numbers ended up here today. all the key markets down. hong kong down. as you point out though, hong kong sees the launch. hong kong sevens rugby tournament an hour ago.

most of the financial community has decamped from the ivory towers. they are now in the hong kong stadium watching the game. this is a huge sporting event here in hong kong. a lot of banks try to tie in various seminars for this week just so they can bring their people and their favorite clients over here to watch the rugby. right at the moment there's going to be very, very little and probably since about lunchtime, early lunch, very little activity going on here in hong kong, at least as far as the finances are concerned. okay. let's quickly look at what's happening in the u.s. markets if we can get that up. no, we can't. okay. nina. that's all we have time for on this show, andrew. to our viewers out there, have a great weekend if you can't join us for the next edition of world business day. thanks ever so much for joining us for the early one. i'm nina dos santos at cnn london. i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. nina and i will be joined by

maggie lake. we've got the opening bell on wall street. we'll see you later. number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. it's hugging my body. in less than a minute i can get more support. if you change your mind once you get home you can adjust it. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. at our semi-annual sleep sale, save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. sale ends march 31st. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699.

this week on "marketplace middle east", the lost treasures of egypt. we take a look at the effort behind regaining egypt's missing

art. plus, libya's recovering economy. we sit down with libyan central bank governor as the stock market reopens one year after the uprisings. scenes from the international monetary fund was in cairo as the egyptian government seeks a $3.2 billion loan to help its ailing economy. a new report says greater political stability is needed for the country's drivers of economic growth. >> in the next year about 30% of egypt's economy, there's about 30% of egypt's economy that needs to be rolled over and paid back. that's a difficult start for the year. it's one of the reasons we think the imf loan and other bilateral loans that will follow is so important for egypt. >> the report suggests egypt's economy will grow 1.5% this year and 3% in 2013. a short fall reserve is the biggest near term concern. as egypt tries to move forward, the country is trying to recover

its ancient history. numerous historical artifacts held in government store houses and some that were in the egyptian museum were stolen after the january 25th up rising. we follow the egyptian investigation to secure the lost treasures. >> reporter: they are the premiere attraction of egypt's multi-billion tourism industry. the great pyramids represent the country's 5,000 years of history but that history is under threat. it all started during last year's revolution. while molotov cocktails flew, thieves broke into cairo's famed egyptian museum. as the unrest spread, so, too, did the looting. in other parts of the egypt they exploited the security vacuum looking for fair pharro's gold.

>> they were not able to see or to stop the people. >> reporter: this is the general director of the geza plateau. he showed us how thieves broke into storage rooms looking for priceless ancient treasures. >> reporter: this is one of the sites that was looted. if you look here, there used to be a concrete wall that protected this area. during the revolution they broke down this wall to break into this room. >> reporter: eventually even amid the chaos authorities were able to secure the site. but not before thieves made off with a small percentage of artifacts. >> for here, i think it is maybe 1% for all. i think you are lucky after this happened, we make communication with army officer and they made control. >> reporter: this site is relatively lucky as it's in the

shadow of the great pyramids. there's security relatively close by, but there's thousands of sites around egypt with little to no security which leaves them open to looters so the international council of museums came up with this pamphlet to help highlight egypt's most valuable artifacts. >> reporter: this isn't an inventory of stolen artifacts, but rather a description of the type of items most at risk. officials hope international border guards will use it to confiscate stolen items. christian and islamic artifacts are also vulnerable and valuable to would be thieves. >> antiquities trade is very lucrative. in the 1970s it would be a couple of hundred dollars for a nice statute, a thousand dollars for a statute. now that would be a half a million dollars. >> reporter: this is a professor

of egyptology in cairo. she says the poor economy is the primary reason behind the surge in looting. >> things have stabilized to a large extent. unfortunately, because of the dip in the economy a lot of people are digging around. there are still the majority of people looking for treasure. they're looking for gold. >> reporter: the lure of striking it rich is just too much for many, especially when you combine rising unemployment, now at 12%, along with an estimated 20% of the population living under the poverty line. >> a lot of the people during this political -- these political difficulties, they have been stealing things because, of course, of the economy and the fact they don't have enough to eat. >> reporter: despite the hard times, she looks to the future and the hope of getting back all the country has lost, including tourists, scared off by the turmoil. >> and we try to come back from outside. to come to egypt because the tourists, it is the income of

this idea. it comes back for the citizen. >> reporter: an ancient antiquity, the spings protected the fair row's treasure. now officials hope border guards will take that roll. ian lee for "marketplace middle east", cairo. up next, libya is back in business. the stock market reopens after it was forced to shut down a year ago. we speak to the central bank governor on getting the economy up and running.

it's back to business for libya's financial sector. it's been a week since the country reopened its stock exchange, one year ago after the revolution forced it to close. stabilizing the banking sector are major tasks for the country's central bank governors. >> as you know, the low, the banking low, was done based on

economic model by the regime. we have modified the current low. we took the banking low in bahrain, iraq, egypt as well. hopefully that we'll be able to pass it to the end of march. we build the way for the future of the banking sector. >> reporter: what is being done to attract foreign investment into the banking sector? >> our aim, by changing, modifying the current low, is to give room to the system and also for us, for the banking sector, to be in compliance with the international standard. definitely before we were to ask for investors to come for the banking sector to evaluate the

existing banks and how to move forward. now we will establish the good environment for investors to come and to actually support us and to help us to be open market for everyone. >> reporter: where does the process of formulating islamic banking regulations stand right now? >> now we need first to establish legal framework, which is islamic legal. it will be a chapter of the current law. we need the approval of the industry. hopefully we'll present it by the end of this month. then once the law can approve it, because we have some workers from commercial banks, the libyan banks to convert to the islamic banks, but our aim of

job of central bank would like to drive the two models to compete in the choice for the public. >> what are the plans to encourage the development of local businesses and boost the libyan private sector? >> the room for the private sector in the past, no room. we need to encourage and to support the private sector. this is our measured rule. and we need to formulate the banking sector now just to help us to support the private sector. we ask the world bank to assist us just to map for the private sector of libya. >> the libyan stock market might be up and running, but with only ten companies valued at a little more than $3 billion, it still has a long way to go. nevertheless, the market's chairman remains optimistic about the future. >> translator: life is back for investment and the exchanges are

back as you can see on the monitor. this is a good sign that the libyans started to put aside their weapons and back what matters to them. the reopening of the stock market is a good sign that businesses are back again. >> the economies of libya's neighbors are slowly picking up steam after the respective revolutions. that's reflected in their stock markets. let's start off with two nearby yeah which was the birth place of the arab spring as we know. compared to libya its transition to democracy has been relatively smooth. take a look at how its stock market has performed over the last year. primarily a straight line up. it has gained 10%. the key date is mid october when elections were held and voters turned out in large numbers. a new government was established quite quickly. we saw stability and confidence echoed in the stock markets here. now we move our attention to the largest economy in north africa. it's been a roller coaster ride in egypt. investor confidence has been shaken. especially after the election process began in november. let's take a look at the stock market.

you'll see what i'm talking about. there is an yun coming loan from the international monetary fund worth $3.2 million. it's been a very rocky ride. this was the worst performing stock market in 2011. you see the trough at the end of 2011. it is the best performing in 2012. we're looking at a gain of more than 40%. the key time line here, elections in may for egypt. for more about the program, visit our website cnn.com/mme. you can check out our web page in arabic as well. arabic.cnn.com/mme. that's it for cnn "marketplace middle east." middle east." thanks for watching. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com