Bavarian Auto Group CEO Farid El-Tobgy said the Ministry of Industry is postponing the issuing of an industrial strategy for cars, which will be re-discussed in the coming period. El-Tobgy said they will dedicate their time towards putting forward a proposal for a strategy to develop the automotive industry in cooperation with the members of the Egyptian Council for Cars. The strategy, which was proposed to the Ministry of Industry, will include the demands of the automotive sector to develop and protect the industry. He added: "If the government works in favour of the consumer, it should decrease the collected fees from the consumer." The suggested additional tax is: 30% on cars with litre capacity is under 1.6 litres; 40% on cars whose litre capacity is between 1.6 litres and 2 litres; and 50% on cars with over 2 litres. The final consumer would be the only one to bear the tax, not the manufacturer. Former Executive Director of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Hussien Mostafa, refused the proposal, saying that it is hard to implement. Mostafa called upon the concerned public entities, responsible for creating a strategy for the automotive industry, to discuss the matter with the Egyptian automotive sector, and provide high incentives for investors to establish the feeding industries and deepen local manufacturing. He also said that some public entities created a strategy for the future of the automotive industry without informing the automotive sector. He added that decisions should not be taken without the participation of the sector, whose volume is at EGP 40bn, of which EGP 20bn are added to the state treasury. Taha Gomaa, SMG Engineering Automotive Company Chairman, called upon all public entities to join the Egyptian Council for Cars. Long-standing members of the automotive market launched last month a new entity under the name of Egyptian Council for Cars, which is sponsored by El-Tobgy. All parties of the automotive sector, such as citizens, automotive alliances, whether manufacturers or experienced members in the feeding industry sector, are included. The top founding members of the new entity were: El-Tobgy; former Executive Director of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Hussien Mostafa; Federation of Egyptian industries Board of directors Member Abdel Moniem El-Kadi; Ali Tawfik, Chairman of Egyptian Auto Feeders Association; Head of Agents and Distributors Division at Chamber of Cairo; the automotive expert and Honorary Chairman of the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC), Raafat Masrouga; the Head of the Automotive Division at the Chamber of Commerce on Giza, Omar Balbaa; the General Manager of Brilliance Bavarian Auto Khaled Saad; Vice-Head of Automotive Division at Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce; the General Manager of the Egyptian British Company for Automobile Manufacture EBAM, Samir Allam; Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trust for chairs manufacture and Head of the Feeding Industries Division, Tamer Shafei; Deputy Head of the Feeding Industries Division, Ihab Awad; Chairman of the Bavarian Factory, Mohamed Zakaria; and Amal for Automobile Manufacturing, Hussien Seliman. Later, Chairman of the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC), Mostafa Hussein, joined the founding members. Manager of Legal Affairs of the Bavarian Auto Group, Tarek Fahim, was selected as an agent of the founding members, and Director of the office of Bavarian Auto Chairman, Noha Haggag, joined as acting secretariat of the council. The Bavarian Auto Group's headquarters in Katameya was chosen as council headquarters. Source: Daily News Egypt
