Egypt is looking to improve investment climate

An Egyptian governmental official has said that the Supreme Committee for Legislative Reform is seeking to reduce the number of laws and investment decrees from 26,000 to about 15,000 in order to improve the country’s investment climate. The committee was formed by presidential decree last week.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency by telephone that about 9,000 laws and decrees will be merged so that procedures will be streamlined to facilitate procedures for citizens and investors alike. The committee is also reconsidering the amounts of fees that citizens and investors are required to pay. It is assessing the legal, economic and social impact of new laws to determine their pros and cons so that various options can be made available to decision-makers based on international good practice.

Operating in a similar manner to the Egyptian Regulatory Reform and Development Activity (ERRADA) that was formed by the government in 2008 and was affiliated with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the new committee will complete the work of ERRADA. There will be a special focus on the e-Registry and the electronic database that comprises thousands of legislative tools that were already reviewed and modified to enhance the business environment.

Egypt’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, decided in March last year to reactivate ERRADA, which had been dormant since July 2012. It fell into disuse again following the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi a year ago.