Promoting Industrial Growth and Encouraging Foreign Direct Investment in Egypt
Utilities and Public Services
- The procedures for extending utilities to industrial establishments are cumbersome, lengthy, and costly.
- Industrial areas lack in services such as transport, health facilities, shops, and restaurants.
- Pricing of different energy products for industrial establishments does not follow any uniform standard; pricing schemes vary according to the nature of the industrial sector.
- The high price of natural gas has a negative impact on industrial competitiveness (particularly for steel factories); the domestic gas price reached $7/million British thermal unit compared to $3/million British thermal unit in the global market.
Responsible Entities
Date 2/2/2020
- Consider offering payment plans, including an installment scheme, to allow industrial enterprises to pay for utilities over time; the payment plan should be commensurate with the size of the enterprise.
- Provide reliable and economical transportation to serve workers in industrial zones.
- Make available commercial properties in industrial zones that can be used by food and beverage providers, as well as rest and recreation areas.
- Provide emergency medical facilities in industrial areas.
- Adopt a standardized mechanism for pricing energy products used in factories in order to achieve greater transparency and fairness. Similar to the situation in most industrial nations, the mechanism should be based on a well-defined formula that takes into consideration global prices, including their upward and downward fluctuations.
- Exercise flexibility when pricing natural gas, especially for factories with high natural gas consumption. Domestic prices should correspond to global prices, and at the same time safeguard the competitiveness of the local product.
Responsible Entities
Date 2/2/2020
- On March 17, 2020, the Prime Minister issued a number of decrees that support the industrial sector. The decrees entailed reducing the price of natural gas for industries to $4.5 /million British thermal unit, as well as lowering electricity prices for ultra-high, high-and medium-voltage industrial activities by LE 0.10, and placing a freeze on electricity prices for the next 3-5 years for other industrial uses.
Responsible Entities
Date 3/17/2020