UN supported Egypt by $150M in 2017

CAIRO – 28 October 2018: The United Nations provided finance to Egypt worth $150 million in fields of technical assistance, training and innovation during 2017, according to Resident Coordinator of the UN in Egypt, Richard Dictus.

In a television interview, Dictus expressed his hope to double this amount to overcome the challenges facing Egypt, referring to the development of the bilateral relationship between the UN and Egypt.

He added that Egypt is one of the important countries, noting that the first office of the UN has been operating in Egypt since 1948, and that UNRWA has been operating since the 1950s.

The coordinator of the UN also praised Egypt’s vision 2030, stressing that it comes in line with the objectives of the United Nations, asserting that both parties are working hand in hand.

Egypt’s vision 2030 targets to have a new Egypt that possesses a competitive, balanced and diversified economy, dependent on innovation and knowledge, based on justice, social integrity and participation, and characterized by a balanced and diversified ecological collaboration system, investing in the ingenuity of the place and humans to achieve sustainable development and to improve Egyptians' life quality.

According to Dictus, the new economic legislations were compatible with the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) support package, clarifying that growth rate rose to 5 percent and the unemployment rate fell to 10 percent, which contributed to the availability of foreign exchange.

"All these mean that Egypt's economy is moving in the right direction," he said.

Egypt embarked on a bold economic reform program that included the introduction of taxes, such as the value-added tax (VAT), and cutting energy subsidies, with the aim of trimming the budget deficit.

Egypt also provides facilities and legislative reforms to encourage investors to invest in Egypt.

The legislative and regulatory aspects include the issuance of several laws and regulations, namely the new investment law and its executive regulations; the law of restructuring and reconciliation, bankruptcy and postponement of financing and privatization; and the amendments of the law of companies and the capital market and their executive regulations.

The new investment law includes a number of clear incentives and full guarantees for investors, providing them 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.

Moreover, the bankruptcy law regulates the financial and administrative restructuring for failed projects and companies, eliminating prison sentences in bankruptcy cases and limiting punishments to a monetary fine.

It also aims to minimize the need of companies or individuals to resort to the courts and to simplify post-bankruptcy procedures.

The state also established the investors’ service center that provides services to aid in the procedures of establishing a firm, its contract, documentation, licensing and its commercial registration.