‘Industrial licensing system' committee to address challenges: Industry minister

IDA policies directed towards developing industrial zones and establishing specialised industrial clusters in Upper Egypt, says Qabil

A committee to develop the industrial licensing system is being formed to determine the obstacles and challenges faced by the issuance of licenses, according to Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Qabil.
The minister said that he will chair the committee and an action plan will be created to develop the licenses system according to the best international experiences to speed up the issuance of licenses without any bureaucratic complexities.
Qabil added that the ministry aims at achieving greater coordination and integration with all state bodies in order to eliminate entanglements, which are obstacles to the achievement of a comprehensive industrial development plan.
He said the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), the main technical body to achieve the ministry's plan, comes at the top of the ministry's priorities during the current stage.

Qabil noted the importance of directing IDA policies towards developing industrial zones and establishing specialised industrial clusters for small and medium-sized industries and especially in Upper Egypt.
The minister demanded developing a specific plan to know the status of these clusters and ways of developing them and raising their competitiveness due to the large role they play in the development of Upper Egypt economically. In addition, these clusters participate in providing more job opportunities for youth, which represents one of the priorities of government programme.
For his part, Chairman of IDA Ismail Gaber said that the authority is keen on facilitating all procedures for investors through its headquarters or branches scattered in the governorates.
Gaber noted that IDA's work plan during the current stage is based on the implementation of the ministry's strategy, particularly with regards to providing more facilitated industrial land to meet the expansion and investment plans in the industrial sector.
He added that the IDA seeks to provide the needed technical studies to help the investor in making the right decision to start his project, this as well as the technological infrastructure of the authority through the activation of paid services online through its website. Furthermore, the automation of procedures for the IDA services, which will provide IDA investor services wherever they are.
Gaber said non-registered investors, industrialists and entrepreneurs must extract industrial records for their organisations as they have become easier to obtain and only require three essential documents.