On 2015, Presidential Decree No 17/2015 was issued to introduce substantial amendments to the Investment Law 8/1997. It also amended certain provisions of the Companies Law 159/1981, the Sales Tax Law 11/1991, and the Income Tax Law 91/2005.

The amendments generally aim at attracting new investments to Egypt through offering further incentives and guarantees, removing obstacles, and streamlining the procedure. Below is a brief description of the main amendments and additions.

The fields that project should be established in to take advantage of this law

According to act No 8 of 1998, the provisions of shall apply to all companies and establishments of any legal structure which are established following the date of enforcement of the Law, whose activities include any of the following:

1. Reclamation and cultivation of barren and/or desert lands.
2. Industry and mining.
3. Hotels, motels, hotel fiats, tourist resort, tourist transportation.
4. Transport of goods in refrigerated vans; refrigerators for the preservation of agricultural crops and products; industrial products, food materials, container depots, and grain storage towers.
5. Aviation transportation and directly related services.
6. Overseas maritime transport.
7. Affiliated oil services in support of digging and exploration operation, and the transport and installation of natural gas.
8. Housing projects whose units are to be leased unfinished for non-administrative purposes.
9. Infrastructure operations concerning drinking water, sewage, electricity, roads and communications.
10. Hospitals and medical centers which offer 10% of their service capacity
11. Free of charge.
12. Financial leasing.
13. Underwriting subscriptions to securities.
14. Venture capital.
15. Production of computer software and systems.
16. Projects funded by the Social fund for Development.

* The Presidential Decree No 17 of 2015 didn’t change anything in those fields so they are the same like previous  act, for that any company want to be relevant to that new act has to establishment in one from those fields.

Thus, the guarantees, incentives and rewards of investing in Egypt in those areas which are approved by that act, can be summarized as:

1. No nationalized nor confiscated of the companies can be.

2. No administrative Guardianship be imposed on companies or establishments, nor shall their properly and funds be detained, sixed, retained in protective custody, frozen or confiscated.
3. No administrative authority shall interfere in respect to the pricing of a company’s or establishment’s products, or in determining their profits.
4. No administrative authority shall cancel or suspend in whole or in part a license granted to a company or establishment for the use of real estate, except in case of a breach of the license conditions.
5. A decree suspending or canceling a license shall be issued by the Prime Minister upon the proposal of the Ministry of investment.

6. The companies and establishments shall have the right to possess and own land for building and built premises as required for the exercise of their activities and to expand the same. Regardless of the nationality or domicile of the partners, or the percentage of their shareholding.

7. Without prejudice to the provisions of Laws, regulations and decrees concerning import activities, companies and establishments shall have the right to import by themselves or via third parties, without registration in the Register of Importers, whatever they require for their establishment, expansion or operations, such as production requirements, materials, machines, equipment, replacements and means of transport suitable for the nature of their actives, the companies and establishments shall also have the right to export their products by themselves or through third parties without being licensed and without registration in the Register of Exporters.
8. Joint stock companies, partnerships limited by shares or limited liability companies whose activities are within the fields set out in one fields from what have determined before in this act, shall not be subject to the provisions of act No 159 of 1981 concerning Joint Stock Companies. Partnerships Limited by Shares or Limited Liability Companies. Founders shares and stocks may be traded during the first two financial years the company subject to the approval of the Prime Minister or his authorized representative. With regard to the forgoing companies, the competent administrative authority shall replace the Companies Department in applying Law No. 159 of 1981, as referred to above, and its Executive Regulations.
9. Joint Stock companies shall not be subject to or governed by Law No. 73 of 1973 in respect of specifying the conditions and procedures for electing the workers representatives to the boards of public sector units, joint stock companies, private societies or establishments. The company’s statutes shall set out the workers role concerning participation in its management in accordance with the Executive Regulations of this Law.

10. A decree of the Cabinet of Ministers may be issued upon the proposal of the concerned Minister to assign state-owned land, or land owned by public bodies, to companies and establishments incorporated in certain defined areas and in the fields set out under the provisions of Article 1 above, free of change and in accordance with the procedures set out under the provisions of the Executive Regulations of this Law.

11. A free zone which encompasses an entire city shall be established by a law. Public free zones shall be established by decree of the Cabinet of Ministers upon the proposal of the Ministry, for the establishment of licensed projects incorporated under any legal structure.

12. The transfer of the net profit, capital and wage workers abroad can be.

13. The ability for solving the investment disputes through the means that were agreed upon with the investor or by arbitration.
14. Legislative amendment has allowed three ways to solve any disputes by friendly way:

• Appeals Committee of the administrative decision.
• Ministerial Committee to resolve investment disputes law.
• The Ministerial Committee for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

15. Create  National Center for Development and Investment Promotion to reconcile the aspirations of the investor and for developing the investment in Egypt.
16. Create a lot of ways to provide the necessary land and real estate for investors to set up projects in Egypt as follows:
17. Sale of land.
18. Lease of land and real estate.
19. Financial leasing.
20. The use of the license.
21. State involvement investor flattened a share in kind.
22. Transferring the land and property for free of charge, for projects which established for development in specific areas. (During the first five years from the application of Amendment No. 17 of 2015).

17. The government has to inform the companies under liquidation within 120 days from the start of the liquidation, about its financial obligations towards the government or the silence will be as Clearance of the company.
18. Reduction for customs tax from 5% to 2%.
19. The requirement of filing the company’s Securities Incorporation own at the Central deposit company.
20. The legislator was stipulated that it is become necessary to prove the criminal intent to accuse the legal representative of the company in crime according to investments acts.

It is a great act but not enough, so for that the government and legislator have to continue in updating all rules which are controlling the investment and business life in Egypt.