22 decisions announced by the government through the Supreme Investment Council in an attempt to launch and encourage capital to work in Egypt in an atmosphere they have always demanded.

However, the demands remain serious and the speed of implementation is the main test. The council held its first session after its reconstitution last week, and the meeting was chaired by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and the harvest was 22 decisions at once in light of the current economic crisis, in an indication of the state’s seriousness in listening and solving investors’ problems. Where the decisions were integrated between solving the bureaucratic crisis, as in setting a maximum of 10 working days for all approvals and for one time upon incorporation, while others came to reduce financial and tax burdens and stabilize tax policy by directing the development of the state’s tax policy document for the next five years, and others concerned with preventing monopoly through Determining the pricing strategy, and a fourth that opened the door to foreign ownership through legislation entrusted to the Ministry of Justice.

Representative Hafez Omran, a member of the Industry Committee in the House of Representatives, said that President El-Sisi’s chairmanship of the parliament is a strong message for everyone to work hard, which gives the business community hope to implement the decisions this time, after the losses suffered by the industrial sector during the last period due to the economic crisis, stagnation and inflation, and therefore One of the most important decisions is to reduce the financial burdens, which can come in more than one format. For example, the industrial community suffers from high interest in the Central Bank for lending, which affects its workflow, as well as charging that to the consumer, so prices rise. Then, reconsidering the interest rate is one of the mitigation tools. Attracting the investor. One of the important decisions as well is the pricing strategy, that is, there is a clear price mechanism that revolves around it so that the reins do not escape, which leads us to the decision to work on competitive neutrality. Well, the Council did by focusing on incentives for the production sectors and what serves them, whether agricultural or industrial, or energy and transportation, to encourage investment. In it, especially since the state, over the past years, has taken care of the existence of a strong and extended infrastructure, so no local or foreign investment will work without it. We also need, in light of the work to reduce financial and tax burdens, to ensure that this is linked to quality and competitiveness, by working to study the needs of the local market and the reasons for the closure. Factories and weak export. Part of the crisis of industry and investment in Egypt is due to the inability of the Egyptian product to export due to weak competition in foreign markets with the Chinese and Turkish, so the numbers of large and similar factories in production are useless. To close down and lay off workers, so encouraging investment must link and care in its incentives with quality and competitiveness. It is also important to reconsider the industrial zones and how they serve the interests of the country, not just business owners, so as to ensure the integration of products and meet them for the local market first, thus reducing the import bill and pressure on the hard currency. .

And he continued: In the committee, decisions will definitely be studied and followed up, especially those related to foreign ownership, as the Ministry of Justice has been assigned to prepare a set of legislative amendments to overcome restrictions related to land ownership, and to facilitate foreign ownership of real estate, and foreign ownership, even if it is present in other countries, then the decision must be made from a dominant point of view. Ownership is based on another mechanism, such as the usufruct right, but the most important thing with regard to foreign investment is that hard currency does not leave Egypt because of the pressure it represents.

Representative Mahmoud Al-Saidi, Secretary of the Economic Affairs Committee, believes that the decisions of the Supreme Investment Council came at the right time to face the crises that the market is suffering from, but the most important thing is the speed of their activation by the General Authority for Investment so that a positive atmosphere that supports and encourages investment prevails, and the council that issued the investment law to serve the country He himself is the one who will discuss the amendments to be added to the law, so there is no objection at all to the emergence of some problems when applying the law. We deal with them by amending them in favor of the best for the cause that they serve, and here is the investment, the investment that guarantees the state a hard currency and self-sufficiency, even in some areas, employment, export and reduction of imports Adding that the first negative for any investor was the slowdown of procedures, facilitating the entry and exit of funds, the increase in tax and financial burdens, and the decisions revolutionized administrative procedures, and that reducing tax and financial burdens would reduce the cost of production and thus the final commodity price for the consumer, granting the foreigner the right Ownership also gives him the right to sell without prejudice to the state’s right to preserve its national security, and in the end he sells on the land of Egypt. One of the most important things that the Council paid attention to is also the provision of production requirements, meaning that the projects are integrated with what the Egyptian state needs and in a way that reduces the import bill for raw materials. And production requirements and save hard currency, especially with the state’s tendency to increase the percentage of the local component in Egyptian industries, as in cars, by 60%, which is what the investment map serves, which shows what is appropriate and required in each region in a way that facilitates the investor’s destination, and here the state deliberately, through the decision to contract with an office A global consultant, to develop a participatory vision and a clear strategy for investment in Egypt, and mechanisms to improve Egypt’s ranking in the ease of doing business index in the coming years, to achieve the national target of raising investment rates to between 25% to 30%, and the investment law allows the General Investment Authority to do so to ensure presentation The largest, broadest and most accurate marketing investment opportunity in Egypt.

It is worth noting that the Supreme Investment Council was previously formed by Presidential Decree 198 of 1977, then by Decree No. 478 of 2016, and Resolution 141 of 2023 to include in its formation the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, ministers, heads of bodies responsible for managing economic files, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federation Egyptian Industries, representing the private sector and president of the Egyptian Federation of Investors’ Associations and Institutions.

Among the most important decisions of the Council is the study of amending some articles of the executive regulations of Investment Law No. 72 of 2017, with the amendment of some of its articles to allow the foreign investor to be registered in the importers register, even if he does not hold the Egyptian nationality, for a period of 10 years, amending Articles No. (40) and (41). And (42) the organization of the golden license to ensure that it may be granted to companies established before the law, Article 34 to allow licensing of industrial projects based on natural gas as one of the production inputs, to work in the free zones system.

Other decisions came, including setting a specific time limit for all approvals of 10 working days, and for one time upon incorporation, directing the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones in cooperation with all concerned parties to establish a “unified electronic platform for the establishment, operation and liquidation of projects” and approving the amendments to the electronic signature law (Law No. 15 of the year 2004) and referring it to Parliament, in a way that reduces bureaucratic barriers and simplifies procedures, assigning the Ministry of Justice to prepare a set of legislative amendments to overcome restrictions related to land ownership, and facilitate foreign ownership of real estate, expanding the issuance of the golden license and considering not limiting it to companies establishing strategic projects Or national, assigning the Council of Ministers to study the transfer of the affiliation of the regulating agencies to the utility sectors, in a way that guarantees their independence, studying the amendment of 9 articles of the Economic Zones Law of a Special Nature 83 of 2005, with the introduction of a number of additional articles to the text of the law, which gives advantages and exemptions to the economic zone, Establishing a permanent unit in the Council of Ministers headed by the CEO of the General Authority for Investment, specialized in setting appropriate policies, laws and regulations for the growth and prosperity of emerging companies in Egypt, as well as receiving complaints from emerging companies in coordination with the Investor Problems Solving Unit and developing appropriate solutions for each of them in coordination with the competent authorities, adopting a package of incentives In support of a number of sectors and projects, including those related to support for the agricultural, industrial, and energy sectors with regard to green hydrogen production, in addition to the housing sector and with regard to real estate developers and investment projects in new cities, as well as the transportation sector with regard to export and customs fees, and unifying the pricing strategy, as well On a number of draft decisions to make amendments to some legal articles that grant preferential treatment to state-owned companies and entities, to enhance competitive neutrality in the Egyptian market. Transfer of affiliation from one party to another, provided that the result of its work is submitted every 3 months to the President of the Republic and the Council of Ministers to enhance governance and transparency, 3- Amending the text of Law No. 7 of 2017; To allow the foreign investor to be registered in the importers register, even if he does not hold the Egyptian nationality, for a period of 10 years. Or amend it, except after taking the opinion of the Board of Directors of the General Investment Authority and approval of the Council of Ministers and the Supreme Investment Council, 5- A draft regulatory decision that is binding with clear mechanisms and controls for cases of imposing improvement fees in accordance with the regulating laws, and the basis for calculating each case, and considering making classifications for the required values ​​according to the purpose of Investment, whether health, tourism, or hotel, and it is circulated to all administrative agencies to get rid of the multiplicity of agencies that impose improvement fees on investors, as the investor pays the same fees to several parties, 6- Directing the Ministry of Finance to develop a clearing system between investors’ dues and what they owe Tax or other burdens for the benefit of government agencies, with a time limit (45 days) to ensure the speedy refund of value-added tax, and speed up procedures. 7- Expediting the announcement of the state’s tax policy document during the next five years; This is in order to eliminate the instability of tax legislation, the multiplicity of authorities entrusted with it, and the imposition of additional fees from various authorities. 9- Assigning the Ministry of Justice to amend the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law No. 13 of 1968, which allows for raising the value jurisdiction of economic and partial courts, and expanding the scope of their substantive jurisdiction to resolve commercial disputes, while raising the quorum for non-appeal, in a way that strengthens mechanisms for settling commercial disputes and thus speeds up the enforcement of contracts. 10- Assigning the Ministry of Justice to issue a binding regulatory decision with clear controls to set a specific time limit for disbursing compensation to investors in cases of expropriation, not exceeding 3 months, while obligating the administrative authorities to intensify negotiations with investors on appropriate compensation; In order to add more confidence in the investment climate in Egypt, 11- Taking advantage of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to contract with a global advisory office, to develop a participatory vision and a clear strategy for investment in Egypt, and mechanisms to improve Egypt’s ranking in the ease of doing business index during the coming years, to achieve the target Raise the investment rates to between 25% and 30%.