Investment Min., lawyers syndicate sign protocol to facilitate investment

CAIRO – 28 March 2018: Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and the head of Egypt's lawyers syndicate Sameh Ashour signed a cooperation protocol on Wednesday to facilitate procedures of granting approvals and permits as well as activating a system of offering online services to investors.

Nasr said that the protocol comes in light of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s directions to ease procedures for investors and eliminate obstacles standing in their way.

Ashour said that a joint executive committee will be formed to draw up mechanisms necessary for achieving the goals of the protocol, adding that the lawyers syndicate will accept all electronic forms approved by the Investment Ministry.

He said that a representative from the syndicate will be present at the branches of the investor service centers.

New investor services centers are being set up as part of efforts to boost investment.

The new centers bring together all the agencies that an investor might need in one place, including the Real East Registration Office, the Commercial Register, the Chambers of Commerce and the Financial Regulatory Authority.

The main centre is located at the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation in Cairo’s Heliopolis district, with branches to be opened soon across the country.

Egypt has been working on improving its business climate through a strategy based on pushing forward legislative and institutional reforms, drawing up an integrated investment map, establishing new free investment zones, developing infrastructure and accelerating procedures for investors.

Investors in Egypt have long complained of lengthy waiting times for obtaining needed approvals, with the World Bank ranking Egypt 122 out of 190 countries on its 2017 Doing Business Index, partly because of difficulties obtaining permits and licences.