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Source: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=183000
Bribes "an Integral Part of Egyptian Business Culture"
(Media Line-Jerusalem Post) David E. Miller - A 2009 survey by the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies found that 47% of small and medium businesses in Egypt are forced to offer government clerks cash bribes in order to obtain business licenses and must continually bribe them in order to avoid fines. Sobhy Essaila, who participated in writing a report on the survey for the center, said that neither the payers nor the recipients of bribes consider the transaction to be a bribe, but rather consider it to be normal payment for services rendered. "This is considered to be an integral part of the Egyptian business culture," he said.