Parliament nods Bankruptcy Protection Law

CAIRO – 9 January 2018: The House of Representative’s general session approved Tuesday the country’s first Bankruptcy Protection Law, a statement from the Ministry of Investment reported.

Discussed in the attendance of Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr, the minister said that the law will help improve Egypt’s ranking in international business indexes.

The law targets organizing the investors’ issues of market exiting, resolving their issues without resorting to courts, and regulating post-bankruptcy procedures.

Egypt’s government is taking on-ground steps to improve the investment climate in Egypt. It approved a new investment law in May, which facilitates business procedures, accelerates arbitration of business disputes and offers many incentives in a bid to attract much-needed investment.

Last month, the parliament approved a set of amendments to Egypt’s law on Joint Stock Companies, Partnerships Limited by Shares and Limited liability Companies, known as the Companies Act no. 159 of 1998.

The most prominent modification to the law is the establishment of sole proprietorship companies along with other kinds of companies: joint stock companies, partnerships limited by shares, and limited liability companies.

Egypt’s net foreign direct investments (FDI) have increased to $13.3 billion in the last fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017, compared to $12.5 billion in the previous one, with a 6.5 percent increase, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).