Promoting Industrial Growth and Encouraging Foreign Direct Investment in Egypt
Ceramics Industry
Responsible Entities
- Factories suffer from high utility debt (electricity and natural gas) because they are erroneously classified as energy-intensive industries.
Responsible Entities
Date 6/30/2020
- Since IDA concluded that the ceramics industry is a labor-intensive, rather than and energy-intensive industry, all utility debt, including interest, should be canceled; the utility debt represents 30% of the industry’s total debt.
Responsible Entities
Date 6/30/2020
Responsible Entities
Date
- The price of natural gas in Egypt is much higher than global prices; while the global price is $2.5 per million British thermal unit, it reaches $4.5 per million British thermal unit in Egypt.
- This has diminished the productive capacity of Egyptian industries, and resulted in a loss in the country’s foreign exchange revenues due to lower exports.
- Increase in ceramics imports.
- Adjust the price of natural gas for labor-intensive, mass-production factories, such that it matches the global price; this should increase the competitiveness of the Egyptian product.
- The ceramics industry did not take advantage of CBE’s COVID-19 related initiatives.
- Launch a special initiative to support the ceramics industry; the initiative should address the price of natural gas and offer finance instruments that the factories can benefit from.
