Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea has announced that the executive phase of the presidential initiative to convert vehicles to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) will commence by the end of March.
This has been driven by the agreement reached with Tarek Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), to amend the conditions of participation in the initiative.
The amendments mean that the cut-off age for applicants now stands at 60 years, rather than the previous 55.
Gamea noted that this decision came at the request of a large number of citizens wishing to take part in the initiative.
The announcement was made during an extensive high-level video conference meeting held by the Ministers of Trade and Industry, Finance, and Local Development.
Gamea said that the meeting emphasised the importance of negotiating with life insurance companies, and the risks of non-payment.
The minister noted that it is necessary to sign the initiative’s protocol with all the concerned authorities. This will enable manufacturing companies to obtain the necessary materials for production and ensure readiness for the initiative.
She added that the meeting reviewed the procedures for scrapping vehicles, in terms of the availability of scrapping yards and the extent of their readiness. This will maximise the benefit from the scrapping of old cars, and work to reuse them in industry.
For his part, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said that the first phase of the presidential initiative will start before the end of March. This will see the gradual replacement of old cars, including passenger, taxis, and microbuses, that are 20 years or older with new ones manufactured local producers.
The new vehicles will have the facilities to run on natural gas. The protocol for this initiative will be signed between the relevant ministries, banks, car manufacturers, and insurance companies.
Maait said that the Ministry of Finance is managing the initiative to replace outdated vehicles through a fund to finance the purchase of some express transport vehicles, as well as the electronic platform.
The ministry is taking measures to pay the value of the green incentive for car companies participating in the initiative.
He pointed out that the state treasury is bearing the costs of EGP 7.1bn to finance the green incentive of the presidential initiative’s first phase to replace 250,000 outdated cars. This phase will be applied in the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Qaliubiya, Alexandria, Suez, the Red Sea, and Port Said.
Egypt’s Cabinet has agreed to grant each car owner who would benefit from this initiative 10% of the price of the new car, up to a maximum of EGP 22,000 on passenger cars.
For taxis, the Cabinet will bear 20% of the cost to a maximum of EGP 45,000, and 25% of the cost of microbuses, to a maximum of EGP 65,000.
Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Shaarawy said that the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Qaliubiya, Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, and the Red Sea have been assigned plots of land suitable for scrapping and collecting cars.
He pointed out that a joint committee has been formed from the Ministries of Local Development, Finance, Interior, and Environment. The committee inspected 10 plots of land in these governorates, seven of which were found suitable for car scrapping.
