Hungarian investments in Egypt reach $41.4M

CAIRO – 5 July 2018: Hungarian investments in Egypt amount to about $41.4 million in the fields of industry, agriculture, tourism, telecommunications and services, Minster of investment Sahar Nasr said.

This came in the third session of the Egyptian-Hungarian Joint Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

The session was headed by Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Nasr, for the Egyptian side, and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Levent Magyar, for the Hungarian side, in the presence of Minister of Transport Hisham Arafat, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ezzedine Abu Setit, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat, Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhy, and representatives of the Suez Canal Economic Authority.

The Committee agreed on the need to strengthen economic relations between the two countries, open new fields of cooperation for the private sector and businessmen from Egypt and Hungary, and to hold an Egyptian business and investment forum by the end of this year.

During the session, a protocol on economic, scientific and technical cooperation was signed, in addition to five memoranda of understanding in the fields of investment, agriculture, telecommunications, information technology, youth and accreditation.

The Ministry of Investment clarified in a press release that the memorandum of understanding in the field of investment aims at enhancing bilateral investments, exchanging information on investment initiatives, and allowing business communities in both countries to facilitate investment.

It also targets to activate joint projects, and encourage the exchange of business missions to learn about the experiences of each party in the field of investment promotion.

Lately, Egypt has started to work on attracting foreign investment; a move that was followed by economic and legal reforms, which included a new investment law, and by the establishment of investors' centers.

The new investment law provides investors with several incentives and treats men, women, Egyptian and foreign investors equally.

The law also stipulates that foreign employees should not exceed 20 percent of the total number of workers in the projects established by non-Egyptian investors.

Investors’ Centers provide services to aid in the procedures of establishing a firm, its contract, documentation, licensing and commercial registration.

They also respond to investors’ inquiries about electronic establishment of companies, investment opportunities in different governorates, free zones and settlement measures of investment disputes.