Parliament initially approves amendments to Investment Law

CAIRO – 7 July 2019: Egypt’s House of Representatives (the lower house of the parliament) chaired by Ali Abdel Aal, has initially approved on Sunday new amendments to the Investment Law promulgated by Law No. 72 of 2017.

The objective of the new amendments drafted by the government is to address problems and challenges on the ground, said Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr who attended the session of the Economic Committee of the Parliament.

The goal of the amendments is to invest in the neediest provinces and improve the standard of living of citizens, and diversity in the sources of growth nationwide, Nasr said, adding

The Minister noted that the amendments to Articles 11-13 aim at granting incentives for expansions of existing investment projects in accordance with the rules and conditions to be determined by a decision of the Council of Ministers.

“The [newly-added] conditions include the establishment of new production lines or products, and creating new business opportunities with an increase in the capital,” she stated.

The second amendment relates to imposing new fees in exchange for ratification of contract signatures of the companies, regardless of the investment system subject to it, the Minister added.

Nasr praised a new article in the Investment Law stipulating that the General Authority for Investment shall calculate the foreign inflows and foreign direct investment in order to reach accurate figures on the volume of investment.

The Parliament Speaker Abdel Aal emphasized the importance of these amendments in attracting more investments to Egypt, referring to the global competition in the field of investment.