The General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) and the Swiss Egyptian Business Association have discussed investment opportunities in Egypt.
Hossam Heiba, GAFI CEO, and members of the Swiss Egyptian Business Association discussed investment opportunities in Egypt, with Yvonne Baumann, the ambassador of Switzerland to Egypt.
During the meeting organized by the Embassy on “alleviating business challenges today”, Hossam Heiba reviewed the axes of facilitating the investment climate and improving the business environment, the most important of which is to accelerate the pace of investment dispute settlement, as well as eliminating any obstacles facing investors, with the aim of promoting the investment file and attracting more local and foreign investments. A time frame was set to solve investor’s problems, as it is intended to solve 80% of their problems by next June of the current year, in addition to setting up a special unit for the “golden license” at GAFI, which in turn granted 15 golden licenses for companies, and on its way to approve 40 applications for the golden license obtainment in the coming week, GAFI CEO pointed out.
As for the digital transformation, GAFI CEO announced that the digital platform for companies incorporation will be launched on the first of next July, which will enable investors to incorporate their companies electronically. Moreover, he called on Swiss companies to visit Egypt’s Investment Map website, explaining that its third version will be launched with the participation of private sector representatives to include thousands of investment opportunities in Egypt.
Heiba added that GAFI has open channels of dialogue with the public and private sectors. These include holding sectoral forums, in the presence of all stakeholders from local and foreign companies and relevant government agencies. Such forums are dedicated to overcoming any challenges hurdling the growth of sectors. They are also dedicated to setting methods through which development could be expedited. Pharmaceutical and real estate investment forums have already been held, GAFI CEO pointed out.
Moreover, he stressed that Egypt has huge investment opportunities in the sectors of health, education, automotive, pharmaceuticals, food, logistics, communications and information technology, as they these sectors have great appeal to the Swiss side who is interested in achieving development in addition to the high returns deep-rooted in the Egyptian market.
On the other hand, Ambassador Baumann expressed the growing interest of Swiss companies and investors into the Egyptian market, thanks to the Egyptian government’s policies and initiatives to develop infrastructure, provide a more favorable business environment, and ensure equal opportunities for private sector investors.
During the event, Ambassador Yvonne Baumann stated: “At least 80 Swiss companies operate in the country in many different sectors.”
She added: “During the last years, Switzerland has always been among the top 10 investors in Egypt. The interest of Swiss companies and investors in the Egyptian market has always been high and continues to grow, partly due to policies and initiatives of the Egyptian government to overcome challenges, such as infrastructure development, better health coverage and increasing food security. We also acknowledge the important steps which are being taken to enhance the investment climate and to ensure a level playing field for private investors.”
Kamal Abdel Malek, Chairperson of the Egyptian-Swiss Business Association, affirmed the Association’s readiness to coordinate and unify efforts with the Egyptian government to seize investment opportunities in Egypt and achieve mutual benefit for both sides. He pointed out that the Association’s members would like to expand their investments in the sectors of construction, food, medicine, tourism, textile, engineering and other active sectors in the Egyptian economy.
