Egypt finally approves establishment of Supreme Council for Automotive Industry

CAIRO - 20 October 2022: The Egyptian House of Representatives announced its final approval of new legislation that would control and stabilize the car market in Egypt.

 

It approved a draft law establishing the Supreme Council for the Automotive Industry and the Environmentally Friendly Automobile Industry Fund, and car import facility grants to Egyptians abroad.

 

A draft law granting some facilities to Egyptians residing abroad provided for exemption from all taxes and fees on imported cars, in return for depositing a cash amount in foreign currency equal to the value of those fees in favor of the Ministry of Finance.

 

The law establishing the Supreme Council for the Automotive Industry and the Environmentally Friendly Automobile Industry Fund provides for the establishment of a Supreme Council to set policies for the localization of the automobile industry.

 

The draft law includes the establishment of a fund to finance the environmentally friendly car industry by establishing a fund to provide financing and incentives to investors who target the local assembly and manufacture of environmentally friendly cars.

 

The council is responsible for setting the general policies and strategy for the development of the car industry locally, including the necessary legislative and administrative reforms, takes all that it deems appropriate to create a better climate for the automobile industry, and to study and develop appropriate solutions facing the automobile industry, and work on exchanging experiences in the field of cars with leading countries and entities specialized in this field.

 

The second legislation relates to granting some facilities to Egyptians residing abroad and wishing to import cars into Egypt, a period of 4 months starting from publishing the law in the Official Gazette, to fill in their data and the types of cars they wish to purchase, and deposit a cash amount in foreign currency equal to the value of fees, customs and taxes in advance for the Ministry of Finance, to be redeemed in pounds after 5 years at the exchange rate in force at that time, without obtaining a return during that period.

 

The bill provides a one-year grace period to import the car.

 

The beneficiary of these facilities must be an Egyptian over 16 years of age and have a valid legal residence abroad.

 

The beneficiary has the right to import only one passenger car.

 

A vehicle that is imported from other than its first owner is required to be no more than three years old, on the date of enforcement of the provisions of the law, from the year of manufacture.

 

The Ministry of Finance is expected to publish a detailed list of customs and the amount of foreign currency deposits required for different car models within two weeks of publishing the law in the Official Gazette.

 

Residents abroad can also change the type of car during the import period of one year, with the payment or refund of the difference in the amount required to be deposited.

 

The Ministry of Finance expected a large influx of imported cars and the dollar proceeds, and expected that these facilities would lead to a proceeds of up to $2.5 billion, through importing between 300,000 and 500,000 cars during the four-month registration period.

 

The Deputy of the Planning and Budget Committee in the Egyptian House of Representatives, Yasser Omar, expected the revenues of this law to reach nearly $5 billion within the next three or four months.