EGYPT Trends and Developments Contributed by: Mohamed Hashish, Farida Rezk, Omar Aboul-Ella and Mariam Rabie, Soliman, Hashish & Partners
raw materials and production requirements, constitutes at least 50%, and further provided that the aforementioned percentage is calcu - lated by subtracting the value of the imported components from the product cost. • The financing of the investment project shall be primarily dependent on the foreign cur - rency transferred from abroad through any bank registered with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). • The establishment of the investment project shall be in one of the undeveloped areas, including, inter alia, Southern Giza Gover - norate, the governorates of the Suez Canal Region: Port Said, Ismailia and Suez (east of the canal), the border governorates, includ - ing the Red Sea Governorate to the south of Safaga, and the Upper Egypt governorates. • The investment project shall contribute directly to the fields of technology transfer and localisation in Egypt, innovation support and scientific research development. • The main objective of the investment pro - ject shall be securing strategic goods for the country, thereby reducing reliance on imports. • The investment project shall lessen environ - mental impact via reducing gas and heat emissions and climate improvement. • The investment project shall offer a labour- intensive investment project by employing no fewer than 500 Egyptian nationals. It is worth noting that it was reported on the Cabinet of Ministers website in March 2025 that a total of ten Golden Licences were granted by GAFI in the first two months of 2025. Furthermore, recent amendments have been made to the Investment Law’s Executive Reg - ulations by virtue of Decree No 2140 of 2023 to promote FDI. This includes the Private Free Zones regime, including the incorporation of a
provision permitting the Cabinet to approve the establishment of any projects in a Private Free Zone, upon a proposal from the competent min - ister after GAFI conducts an assessment of the project, subject to various conditions. Further - more, the aforementioned Decree lifted some of the requirements for establishing projects in the Private Free Zones, including: • the requirement to check initially whether there is a location in a Public Free Zone that would accommodate the project; • the minimum capital requirement of USD10 million, and the investment costs thereof not being less than USD20 million or its equiva - lent in the free currency; • the minimum area requirement for the project being 20,000 sq m; and • a minimum requirement of 500 employees. In addition, this Decree has introduced provi - sions regarding the inclusion of the services industry within the Private Free Zone system. It is also worth noting that, generally, the per - centage of ownership by Egyptian nationals of desert lands must not be less than 51%, and the maximum percentage of individual owner - ship in the capital of a company owning desert land must be 20%. The lands of co-operative societies and companies may not be transferred to non-Egyptians upon their dissolution. How - ever, an exception to the aforementioned, in accordance with Law No 11 of 2024 amending some provisions of the Desert Lands Law, is a case where a foreign investor obtains the lands necessary to practise or expand their activity in accordance with the provisions of the Desert Lands Law or the Investment Law. Additionally, by virtue of a decree from the President of the Republic and the Cabinet’s approval, a person who holds the nationality of one of the Arab
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