Egypt Advances 10 Ranks in Doing Business Report

Egypt, this year and for the fourth time in five years, managed to find a place among the 10 largest reform-adopting countries in the world. It maintained its place among the countries improving and streamlining the business environment. Egypt occupied the 106th rank this year amongst 183 countries with an advance of 10 ranks from the previous year. In 2007 Egypt ranked 165 amongst 175 countries, advancing 59 ranks at the level of international classification. A package of radical reforms has been enforced in investment-related procedures from starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers to registering property, getting credit, protecting the investors, paying taxes, trading across borders and enforcing contracts.

The report is issued every year by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank (WB) to assess the facilitation of doing investment business for the small and medium-sized companies fully owned by Egyptians from a special perspective that focuses on ten indicators; namely starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business.

Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin said the indicator of starting a business has been witnessing great progress since 2007 thanks to a package of institutional and legislative reforms such as the cancellation of the minimum capital of the limited liability companies, cost reduction, setting up One Stop Shop service settlements at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), reducing the time needed to start a business to only 3 days and enforcing a taxation registration mechanization system so that taxation cards and social insurance cards now need a single day to be obtain. This helped improve Egypt's rank in that indicator from 126 in 2007 to 41 in 2008 and 24 in 2009.

The report is the fruit of a full year of efforts contributed by several government bodies such as the Ministries of Finance, Justice, Administrative Development, Local Development, Housing & Utilities, Trade & Industry, Transportation and Manpower & Immigration, plus the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) representatives, the Cairo Governorate, the Egyptian Credit Bureau, various bodies affiliated with the Investment Ministry namely GAFI, the Institute of Directors, the Capital Market Authority (before its merger with the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority) and other institutions directly communicating with investors such as the Export and Import Supervisory Authority.

Throughout the previous year, a package of procedures has been enforced to reduce time and streamline procedures for investors in general and small and medium-sized in particular, aiming to provide job opportunities and improve the investment climate in Egypt, the minister said.

Among the reforms monitored by the report were those implemented by the Investment Ministry to remove restrictions on the capital of the limited liability companies. The CBE and Credit Bureau made reforms to increase the number of the registered and broaden the databases. the Ministry of Housing & Utilities released the executive statute for the Unified Construction Law No. 119 of 2008. The Justice Ministry started enforcing the economic courts system to streamline action procedures and quicken dispute settlements.

Egypt is very keen to continue reform efforts and improve the business climate. This has already been started since 2004 through main axes, such as cutting duties on registering property, reducing measures required to issue construction permits, establishing credit information companies, and issuing the economic courts law in May 2008. These axes also include shortening the time required to transfer or register property from 193 days to 72 days, cutting registration duties to a maximum of LE2000, in accordance with law number 83 for the year 2006. Mohieldin referred to the ministry's recent program to launch the Electronic Company Register System, which will enable investors to establish companies, provide and sign required papers, and pay all duties without any need to go to the services center of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI)

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