By Ahmed Amer
Some expatriate Egyptians have launched a Facebook campaign entitled “Customs exemption for every Egyptian abroad”, requesting that the Egyptian government stops imposing customs on cars.
Campaign head Mahmoud Shakl told Daily News Egypt that, in return for the Egyptian government halting customs on cars, they will deposit $12bn in the states’ treasury, which will raise its cash reserve.
(Photo handout to DNE)
Shakl said the idea for the campaign is the mutual benefit between Egyptians abroad and the Egyptian government. Each Egyptian abroad would deposit $1,500 in the state’s treasury through customs. As a principal condition, he would receive the amount back after 14 months, in return, the state will allow the entrance of one car, exempting it from customs. He added that there are 8 million Egyptians living abroad, the majority of whom are residents of Arab countries.
Shakl explained that the campaign has set some conditions to avoid trading these exempted cars on the market, meaning that the exempted car can only be sold after three years. In addition, every Egyptian family has the right to enter Egypt with only one car. The exemption from customs is conditioned by specific years; moreover, the cars’ model should not be less than six years old.
The Facebook page’s admin said that when these cars enter Egypt, new maintenance centres will be established and, regarding the sales of spare parts, employment opportunities will be available. Also the new cars market will witness a price decrease and improvement in quality to meet the GCC countries’ standards. He added that this step will help the country eliminate the trade of Gulf cars in Egypt, which costs the state’s treasury billions of dollars to import these cars.
Shakl said that the campaign began in 2011. In 2015, the idea was renewed after a number of expatriate Egyptians met together, and discussed their rights regarding exempting their cars from customs.
On the other hand, Ali Tawfik, Chairman of the Egyptian Automotive Feeders Association (EAFA), proposed a project entitled “One Million Cars”. This project aims to save $5bn annually, and relies on utilising a large base to export the new product in return for customs exemption, through Egyptians abroad.
Tawfik concluded that Egypt can support the local automotive industry through Egyptians who work abroad, especially in Middle East and Africa. They would receive the car where they work, and would then be allowed to bring it to Egypt, exempting them from customs. The car would be promoted abroad, which will open new markets for the Egyptian product.
