Industrial authority no longer grants approvals: minister

CAIRO – 31 May 2017: Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil issued a decree Wednesday to cancel Ministerial Decree no 825, 2008, which gives initial approvals to industrial projects, according to a ministerial statement on Wednesday.

Tarek explained that the new decree annuls initial approvals granted by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to establish new industrial projects, adding that his decision comes in line with newly-ratified 15/2017 Industrial Permits Act.

“The Ministries of Investment, Finance and Local Development were contacted to start implementing this decree, and not asking investors to submit documents to the IDA,” Kabil said.

On May 9, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi approved the Industrial Permits Act that aims at easing measures for obtaining licenses for the industrial establishments.
The act entails granting investors needed approvals in no more than one month, instead of a period of almost two years in the old Law no 83, 2002.

Investors are recently given more incentives in the new investment law, approved by the parliament on May 7, such as allowing 20 percent of foreign labor in projects, rapidly addressing investment disputes and allocating land plots at no cost for development projects in areas of New Suez Canal, Upper Egypt, Fayoum and Marsa Matruh.