Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Engineer Hassan Al-Khatib, said that the Economic Committee in the House of Representatives represents a major house of expertise that supports everything that would advance the national economy before it is a watchdog over economic policy.
This came during the Minister’s review. Investment before the Economic Affairs Committee and the Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises Committee in the House of Representatives, today, Monday, to present the Ministry’s vision, strategy, and objectives to create a business climate and attract more local and foreign investments, and to enhance Egypt’s foreign trade rates, in the presence of Dr. Mohamed Soliman, Chairman of the Committee. Economic Affairs, Mohamed Marei, Chairman of the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises Committee, members of the two committees, and a number of representatives.
Al-Khatib appreciated the legislative role of the Economic Committee in the House of Representatives, which is active with the Ministry and its affiliated bodies in Amending the Investment Law and the Importer Register Law, in addition to many important agreements that support the foreign trade sector.
He expressed his appreciation to the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises Committee in Strengthening this vital sector, whether through legislation or oversight; In a way that contributes to advancing development.
He added that the vision of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade emerges from the government’s action plan “Together we build a sustainable future (2024 – 2025) – (2026 – 2027), especially the third axis, “Towards a competitive economy that attracts investment.”
He continued, “We It is an important transitional stage, with many internal and external challenges that have emerged during the last decade, and directly affected the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy and its ability to attract investments.”
He explained that the main goal of the state is It is to create a more competitive and attractive investment climate befitting Egypt, and contribute to the investor directly witnessing a tangible and rapid improvement on the ground in the ease of doing business in Egypt, through creating an attractive investment climate and developing the business environment, Simplifying procedures and reducing financial burdens, while ensuring the availability of opportunity, fair competition, and speedy resolution of problems and challenges. In order to achieve a clear and rapid positive impact on the investor.
He pointed out that this vision is based on a set of strategic principles and objectives that seek to strengthen Egypt’s position as an attractive investment destination and drive growth. economic through clear policies that stimulate investment, work to reduce non-tax and procedural financial burdens, and give the private sector the main pivotal role in advancing the economy.
He noted that the Ministry’s vision is also based on To transform the role of the state into a watchdog, organizer, and arbitrator to ensure a fair investment environment, in addition to trade policies open to the world that contribute to increasing exports by encouraging national investments in the field of production and export, and providing the necessary services to exporters.
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He pointed out that the Ministry’s vision is based on strengthening trade relations with countries, international and regional trade organizations and institutions, achieving the maximum possible benefit from trade agreements and opening new horizons for trade cooperation. And protecting the Egyptian economy from harmful practices in international trade.
The Ministry’s vision is also based on doubling the volume of assets and investments managed by the sovereign fund; To reflect the true value of the Egyptian economy, maximize the benefit and increase the return on the state’s underutilized assets by managing them effectively through innovative strategies and partnerships with the private sector, and working to revive national brands, build a strong identity, and enhance their competitiveness.
With regard to the foreign trade file, the Minister of Investment said, “The target according to the government’s work program until 2030 is $145 billion,” noting an increase in the total value of non-oil commodity exports during the year. 2024, reaching $40.8 billion, compared to $35.7 billion, an increase of $5 billion, an increase of 14% compared to the previous year.
He added that it included the most important sectors that formed the structure of Egyptian exports, which are Building materials, chemical products, food industries, engineering and electronic goods, while the most important receiving countries for Egyptian exports include the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey. And Italy.
He continued, “The government is currently working on implementing further reforms to commercial and procedural policies with the aim of facilitating investors and facilitating the movement of foreign trade to Egypt, which includes reaching a customs clearance time of two days.” Instead of 8 days during the year 2025, through the continuation of customs services work on official holidays and Fridays, as work was activated since the first Friday in December 2024, and the work included 5 days, Friday, and Tuesday, January 7, 2025, and customs and control operations were carried out on 10,608 consignments (inspection, inspection, valuation, and approval), and 1,823 consignments were released, resulting in an average saving of approximately $3.5 million.
He went on to say, “The procedural reforms also included providing the possibility of paying fees after the end of working hours.” In banks, where work has been activated since Thursday, December 12, 2024; The work will extend until 6 p.m., indicating that the presentation of customs items to a joint committee of relevant supplying bodies has also been unified.
With regard to the legislative amendments, the Minister explained that the Customs Law No. 207 of 2020 and its executive regulations to ensure (advance customs clearance – amending valuation procedures), and coordination is underway between the Ministries of Finance and Justice, while the powers of the General Authority for Oversight have been amended. Exports and imports included in the decision to establish the authority, as the amendments have been prepared, reviewed by the State Council, and are being discussed with the Council of Ministers’ Advisory Board.
And regarding the export burden refund program, He pointed out that work will be done to pay the late dues amounting to 60 billion pounds, as 50% (30 billion) will be disbursed in cash over a period of 4 years, starting from the current fiscal year, at a value of 8 billion pounds, with the availability of the feature Securitization.
He noted that 40% in cash (25 billion) will be allocated to settle the tax and customs dues of owed companies or an outstanding credit balance, and 10% in cash (5 billion) will also be allocated ) A balance to settle the state’s dues.
With regard to the program (2024-2025), the Minister of Investment said, “Export support dues will be disbursed as of Shipments of July 1, 2024, for a maximum of 90 days, and a share of the budget will be allocated to each export sector to support its exports, as the program has been approved by the Council of Ministers, and export councils and all business organizations have been notified of the program.
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Regarding the new program (2025 – 2026), he indicated that the formulation of the new program will be completed no later than next March 31, when the pioneering international experiences in the field of support are being studied. Exports, as well as conducting community dialogue and sessions with experts and specialists with the participation of all export councils, chambers of commerce and the Federation of Industries, in addition to conducting an opinion poll to evaluate the current program and development proposals, preparing a standard model to identify the targeted sectors, and coordinating with all relevant government agencies.
The Minister pointed out that the Ministry is working to protect the local industry against the negative effects of unfair trade practices, and to defend Egyptian exports in cases Reverse.
With regard to anti-dumping, prevention and support, he said, “Trade processing fees currently apply to 13 categories that include multiple sectors such as: chemical, metallurgy, engineering, and food industries.” And building materials, and draft complaints submitted to 8 investigations are being reviewed in preparation for the start of the investigation.”
With regard to regulating the automobile market, he explained Al-Khatib said that the Ministry is working to eliminate any distortions or harmful practices that affect the efficiency of the market, and to promote fair competition between all parties in the market (producer – distributor – agent), in addition to providing cars that conform to specifications while ensuring service centers and original spare parts at fair prices for the consumer.
With regard to the investment file, he said that the issuance of the golden license has expanded, as the number of companies obtaining the golden license has reached 44 companies, pointing out that the ministry is working to reduce The procedural burdens will be placed on the investor by unifying the entity dealing with the investor, creating a unified electronic platform for licensing, and digital transformation in providing services to investors to ensure transparency, in addition to facilitating the procedures for obtaining licenses and reducing the obstacles that investors may face during the licensing process.
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The Minister referred to the assignments of the President of the Republic to update and activate the electronic licensing platform within two months, while ensuring that all concerned parties and bodies have access to the platform in preparation for its permanent operation, pointing out that it has been Conduct a comprehensive study of the current status of the licensing platform, evaluate its readiness, and determine the requirements necessary to fully activate it.
He noted that a meeting was held with representatives of 41 entities to discuss the mechanisms for activating the platform, and that They agreed on the importance of speeding up the actual launch of the unified licensing platform, and they were contacted to complete the required coordination, in addition to meeting with the Minister of Communications and Information Technology. To discuss ways to enhance the platform’s efficiency and sustainability from a technological standpoint and achieve integration with platforms in other regions.
Regarding the non-tax financial burdens, the Minister of Investment said that work is underway to unify the collection body and restore Considering the size of fees and the actual tax rate, and reorganizing fees to ensure reducing the financial burden, in addition to applying the principle of “no tax or deduction from revenues,” and enhancing tax revenues without increasing the burden on investors, as procedures have been implemented in this regard with regard to contributions. Symbiotic And the Training and Qualification Finance Fund.
He referred to the mandates of the President of the Republic to limit all fees and financial burdens imposed and charged by various agencies and bodies and replace them with an additional tax from the net profit, collected primarily by the Ministry of Finance. As well as the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones and the Industrial Development Authority, as these bodies pay the dues of the various bodies successively.
He continued that coordination is underway with the authorities. The fees were limited, and a proposed law was prepared to impose a percentage of the net tax profit added to the tax rate to cover all burdens and fees.
