Parliament approves draft law to establish fund for innovators

CAIRO – 23 October 2018: The Parliament initially approved on Monday, Oct.22 the government-drafted law to establish a fund supporting innovators.

The draft law aims to support research, innovation and development carried out at national small and micro-technology enterprises to raise their competitiveness and encourage young innovators, according to a report on the draft law.

The report referred that innovators face many problems to fund their projects, especially that government funding and banks encounter obstacles.

Under the draft law, the fund will not pose a burden on the state's budget as it will depend on donations, cash and in-kind grants given by natural and legal persons, and on loans by the state's concerned bodies, the report added.

The financing will also be obtained through the services provided by the fund to support research and innovation projects, in addition to 1 percent of the profits obtained from the private units of the government universities, institutes and research bodies.

The draft law will grant student innovators scholarships to continue their education and will create partnership opportunities between young innovators and funding entities to put their research ideas into action.

Article 7 reads that the fund will be exempted from paying tax, while Article 8 refers that a board of directors should be formed to submit a report to the prime minister on the fund’s achievements.

“We need you [scientists], and Egypt is in need of your research to overcome problems,” said President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi during the inauguration of the National Conference for Scientific Research on March 24.

Sisi stressed that the government is determined to achieve significant progress in the science and research fields, noting that the Egyptian state has been exerting its best efforts to boost scientific research and innovation.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research organized the conference to review the priorities upon which scientific research should focus in Egypt. It will place this within the framework of the national unified strategies for science, technology, innovation and Egypt’s sustainable development vision 2030, according to Egyptian presidential spokesperson Bassam Radi.

In this regard, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Tarek Amer said that launching a LE 1 billion fund will support innovation, according to his speech on the second day of the Financial Technology (FinTech) conference "Seamless North Africa".