The House of Representatives approved on Tuesday a draft law submitted by the government to establish the Supreme Council for Automotive Industry and the Environmentally Friendly Automobile Industry Fund.
The bill was earlier referred on 5 July to a joint committee of the committees industry, economic affairs, energy and environment, and the plan and budget.
The draft law aims to support and localize the automotive industry and promote a trend towards an environmentally friendly industry, transforming Egypt into a regional center for environmentally friendly car industry. In addition, increase the proportion of the local component in this industry, in a way that enhances Egyptian efforts towards environmental issues to reduce volume of carbon emissions, and their negative impact on sustainable development.
The draft law also aims to reduce dependence on imports, and thus reduce the demand for foreign currency, especially since Egypt annually imports about $4bn of cars. This percentage increases if the auto industry is not taken care of locally, which puts pressure on foreign exchange reserves, in addition to reducing environmental risks and reserving human health.
This trend is in line with the constitutional principles, especially Articles (27 and 28) of the Constitution, which stipulate that the state’s economic system must be committed to encouraging investment and balanced growth geographically and environmentally. Furthermore, the state is committed to protecting productive economic activities, increasing their competitiveness, providing a serious climate for investment, increasing productivity, encouraging export and regulating import.
