Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has confirmed that President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has ordered the establishment of a public services complex in each governorate across the country to stimulate investment.
The complexes will include headquarters of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), as well as sections for property taxes, income taxes, VAT, and an archives house. This will ensure that facilities are provided to ease official activities for citizens and stimulate investment.
Maait announced that a government services complex is scheduled to be opened in Sharm El-Sheikh by the end of June 2022.
“We [the government] have launched an ambitious project to raise infrastructure and technology efficiency at property tax headquarters, in a way that contributes to linking offices electronically to an internal network in order to enable citizens to quickly pay taxes due on their units in accordance with the law from any tax office,” Maait said, “Additionally, we started a project to automate the documentary cycle of property taxes, along with developing work environment and develop administrative headquarters.”
He added that the efficiency and maintenance of 311 authorities’ headquarters in the governorates have been completed during the past two years.
The minister emphasised that Sharm El-Sheikh and Taba are among the promising cities in which there are many investment and tourism projects. Those charged with paying property taxes used to go to the cities of Tor Sinai and Nuweiba to pay tax due.
Accordingly, it was necessary to provide a headquarters for property taxes in Sharm El-Sheikh and Taba to make it easier for citizens.
Maait said that two property tax offices are currently being established in the New Valley, alongside three offices in Marsa Alam, Safaga and Ras Gharib in the Red Sea. Further offices are being established in the governorates of Sohag, Daqahleya, Qena, and Matrouh this year.
For her part, the Advisor to the Minister of Finance for Real Estate Tax Samia Hussein said that an integrated plan has been developed to establish branches for Egypt’s National Archives in all governorates. These branches will include coding and storage mechanisms.
This step allows important documents for citizens, especially with regard to agricultural clays and others. It takes into account the optimal employment of modern technology to have an online archive in each governorate, in a manner consistent with the government services complexes to be established.
Hussein pointed out that the Sharm El-Sheikh complex will include the archive, the first of its kind in electronic storage, with an increase in storage areas in New Valley, Alexandria, and Matrouh.
