EGYPT Trends and Developments Contributed by: Mohamed Hashish, Heba El Abd and Mariam Rabie, Soliman, Hashish & Partners
Imports As of December 2022, the CBE abolished the sys - tem of requiring importers to obtain letters of credit for their purchases and returned to the cash-against- documents system for importing goods. This change alleviates the previously higher costs and time bur - dens on importers. It is also worth noting that in 2023, by virtue of Law No 173 of 2023, the foreign ownership restriction on importation has been lifted, permitting limited liabil - ity companies where 51% of the quotas of which are owned by non-Egyptians partners to register in the Importers’ Registry, provided that the total duration of registration does not exceed ten years from the date of entry into force of the said law. However, this dura - tion may be extended for one additional period not exceeding ten years by a decision from the Council of Ministers. In conclusion, significant legal developments have taken place across different regulations and sectors in Egypt. These measures reflect the Egyptian gov - ernment’s aim to foster a stable and well-regulated economy, not only for Egyptians, but also to promote FDI in Egypt. Notably, reports indicate that further changes are anticipated in the coming years, includ - ing the introduction of new labour and arbitration laws.
In November 2025, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology issued the Executive Regulations of the Data Protection Law by virtue of Decree No 816 of 2025, and the Data Protection Cen - tre has been established, granting persons subject to the Data Protection Law a grace period of one year to legitimise their position with the Executive Regulations of the Data Protection Law, which Regulations shall be effective as of 2 November 2026. Banking, Finance and Exchange Control It is worth noting that the Egyptian pound has under - gone various devaluations throughout 2022 in order to secure IMF loans. Despite the fact that investors are freely allowed by law and any relevant and applicable bilateral invest - ment treaty to transfer dividends to their home coun - try, the current shortage and unavailability of foreign currency in Egypt has made it difficult to transfer such proceeds and dividends of the investors to their home country, and therefore, most foreign investors secure their own source of foreign currency, as each bank is currently applying a list of priorities for exchang - ing Egyptian pounds with any foreign currency, which differs from one bank to another. However, it is worth noting that these restrictions were relaxed significantly in 2024, allowing foreign investors to secure foreign currency.
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