Cairo - Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr and Minister of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram announced Thursday activating One Stop Shop protocol inaugurated Sunday. The One Stop Shop protocol was inaugurated to aid Egyptians living abroad to invest domestically through a single unified ‘service window' at the Investors Services Center and electronically to provide all necessary investment services. The protocol aims to promote foreign investment from Egyptians living abroad by creating a platform where expats are familiarized with the advantages, incentives, and guarantees that the New Investment Law grants them as well as helping them with investment tools and introducing them to opportunities. Nasr noted that the ministry is offering a wide range of services through the One Stop Shop for the Egyptian expatriates, most prominently establishing firms through a service helping users to incorporate their own companies. Moreover, Makram said that the Egyptian expatriates have shown interest in the participation in the development projects and investment in their country. The projects launched by the Egyptian expatriates in their governorates help eliminating the illegal immigration, Makram added, highlighting that the cooperation with the Ministry of Investment represents the first step in applying the One Stop Shop. The minister of immigration pinpointed that the protocol will be applied in a number of other ministries. Earlier, Makram said that a joint council will be formed to make sure the aims of the protocol are carried out and will contain representatives of both committees. She added that there has been a rising interest in Egyptians living abroad as Makram believes female expats to reflect Egypt's image to the international community. The New Investment Law also provides gender equality in investment opportunities. The New Investment Law was passed on May 7, 2017 as an effort to bring more foreign direct investment to Egypt. The law calls for representatives of 74 parties to facilitate and speed up procedures for Egyptians abroad.
