Twenty-two (22) golden licenses... and the first thirty (30) companies were established electronically
Grant contracts on Damietta Furniture City workshops ... Promotional visits to East Asia... and a Platform to Support Entrepreneurship and Startups
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, met yesterday evening with Mr. Hossam Heiba, GAFI CEO to follow up on GAFI’s efforts to attract and encourage investments in Egypt.
During the meeting, GAFI CEO indicated that efforts to improve the investment climate during the past months contributed to attracting new investments that varied between startups, medium and large projects in various economic sectors, explaining in this context that the Golden License was granted to four companies, which are: “PLM & Africa” for manufacturing medical bandages, Red Sea Wind Energy, GennVax Vaccine Facility for manufacturing vaccines, and “Midea Electric Egypt”, leading to increase the number of companies obtaining the Golden License to 22 companies, with the trend towards expanding the issuance of a comprehensive approval to include all activities and companies.
During the meeting, Dr. Mostafa Madbouly was keen to follow up GAFI's progress in electronic incorporation system for companies, which was launched last month. In this regard, Mr. Heiba explained that since the launch of the service, the incorporation site has received sixty-five (65) applications for incorporating a company electronically, thirty (30) of which have already been established, and the rest are in the stages of fulfillment of notes on the incorporation application.
In the same context, GAFI CEO indicated that GAFI is currently, in coordination with the Ministry of Justice, preparing a simplified guidelines for incorporation procedures, and GAFI has also developed a plan to train workers in all Investor Services Centers (ISCs) to use the electronic system and approve the electronic signature. GAFI is currently preparing to launch the second phase of the service, which will witness the improvement of the timing of service performance and the improvement of real-time data exchange with other entities related to the incorporation process.
With regard to supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Mr. Heiba noted that GAFI has granted contracts for the operation of manufacturing and exporting furniture to a number of applicants to run the investment zone workshops of the Damietta Furniture City Company. GAFI has prepared an integrated study on the mechanisms of promoting and attracting investments to the investment zone, including suggestions to deal with the challenges facing the zone's projects, mechanisms for promoting the zone, proposing a system of tax and non-tax incentives to increase the demand for the zone, and the establishment of a Public Free Zone in the city, within the framework of implementing the President instructions to prepare a road map for the development of the furniture industry in Egypt, to take advantage of the competitive advantage of furniture industry in Damietta.
In the same context, GAFI CEO stated that GAFI is currently exploring the possibility of launching an electronic platform via which the potential governmental projects and tenders could be offered to SMEs whose capital is less than three million Egyptian pounds.
In addition, he confirmed that GAFI and the Information Technology Industry Authority (ITIDA) agreed that ITIDA’s e-platform will be added to the e-platform affiliated to the Entrepreneurship Environment and Startups Support Unit incorporated by PM Decree last June. The added e-platform will contain all information available at the relevant governmental agencies about the entrepreneurship and the startups environment.
Also, during the meeting, PM followed up on the outcomes of the promotional tour that GAFI’s delegation carried out in Asian countries including the People’s Republic of China (the largest economy in the continent) and the Republic of Singapore (the most important financial center in the continent). Mr. Heiba elaborated that GAFI, in cooperation with the Egyptian Embassy in Beijing, organized an Egyptian-Chinese investment forum on the sidelines of GAFI delegation’s visit to China. More than 70 Chinese companies specialized in automotive industries, industrial agriculture, textile, communications and information technology, chemicals, transportation, investment, and finance attended said forum, GAFI CEO added. He further said that during the forum he affirmed that any company could now be incorporated electronically and its capital could be in the Chinese Yuan.
On another note, GAFI CEO participated in the Investment in the Middle East Forum. He also presented to Chinese institutions a proposal to jointly develop four industrial zones and three new free zones, similar to what the Chinese company TEDA did in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
GAFI CEO added that one of the outcomes of the tour was that the China Development Bank announced that it will send a mission to Egypt to follow up on the investment opportunities available to Chinese companies. Another outcome was that China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles (CCCT) also announced that it will send to Egypt any textile Chinese company that would like to invest in Egypt.
On another level, GAFI CEO mentioned that GAFI’s delegation participated in the Singapore Africa Business Forum at the invitation of the Singaporean investment promotion agency. 600 representatives of Singaporean companies and African countries attended the forum. Many Singaporean bodies (Ministry of Trade and Industry - International Cooperation Department - the Singaporean investment promotion agency) expressed their desire to cooperate with GAFI on promoting investment opportunities among the representatives of the Singaporean companies. Many Singaporean companies also announced their desire to visit Egypt and explore in practice the promising investment opportunities there. Such visits will be coordinated with The Singaporean investment promotion agency, GAFI CEO concluded.
