Investment Promotion and Incentives Finally, almost 2 years after it was announced at the Egypt Economic Development Conference (“ EEDC ”) in Sharm El Sheikh in March 2015, Parliament passed a new investment law on May 7, 2017 (the New Investment Law ) as a part of an ongoing effort to boost FDI in Egypt. The New Investment Law will replace the existing Investment Law No. 8 of 1997 (which was amended by the President during the EEDC). The New Investment Law provides a number of key guarantees and incentives including, inter alia, the following: (the Incentives ): • Fair and equitable treatment of both foreign and Egyptian investors. However, the Prime Minister will have the right – subject to the principle of reciprocity – to grant favourable treatment to foreign investors. • Granting a residence permit to foreign investors throughout the term of their investment projects in Egypt. • None of the Egyptian Authorities will have the right to suspend or terminate any licence and/or allocation of properties granted to any investor without satisfying the following conditions: (i) serving a notice to the said investor outlining the relevant breaches and/or violations made thereby; (ii) allowing that investor to remedy the breaches and/or violations within a reasonable time; and (iii) obtaining the option of the General Authority for Free Zones and Investment before issuing a suspension or termination. • The right to repatriate profits and/or receive international finance without any restrictions. • Accelerating the liquidation process by requiring receipt of a written notice from the competent authorities outlining any liability on the company that is under liquidation by no later than 120 days from the date of submitting the relevant liquidation request. • The right to directly import rawmaterials, equipment, spare parts and/or transportation means as necessary for investment projects without the need for registration with the importers registry. • Exemption from stamp duty and notarisation fees imposed on Articles of Incorporation, Facilities and Loans Agreements, Security Documents and/or Plot of Lands Purchase Agreements for five (5) years starting
from the date of registration with the commercial registry. • A unified custom duty of 2% of the value of any equipment, machinery and devices necessary to establish or continue any infrastructure projects. • Exemption from the custom duty imposed on importation of mould or any similar tools for the purpose of temporarily using the same in Egypt for industrial projects. • Tax reduction for 7 years from the start of investment projects in Egypt at the following rates, subject to the issuance of the Executive Regulations of the New Investment Law (the “Executive Regulations”): (i) 70% of the investment costs for investment projects that will be established in the geographic locations most in need of development (to be specified by the Central Agency For Public Mobilization & Statistics ( CAPMS )) as per the distribution of investment activities in accordance with the Executive Regulations; (ii) 50% of the investment costs for investment projects that will be established in the geographic locations in need of development (other than the locations stated in Item (i) above) to be specified by CAPMS, as per the distribution of investment activities in accordance with the Executive Regulations; (iii) 30% of the investment costs for investment projects all over the country with any of the following: • projects with extensive manpower; • Micro and Small Enterprises; • projects producing or dependent on new and renewal energy; • national and strategic or tourism projects (to be specified by the Supreme Investment Council in Egypt); • electricity production and distribution projects (as to be specified by the Prime Minister); • projects exporting goods outside the Egyptian territory; • automotive production and supporting projects; • wooden, furniture, printing, packing and petrochemical projects; • production of antibiotics, pharmaceutical, cancer drugs
or beauty treatments; • production of leather; • foods and agricultural production as well as management of agricultural waste; and
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