Ministerial Economic Group approves draft law to facilitate licensing factories

Law accelerates issuance of licenses and start of operations, raises Egypt's rank in World Bank's Doing Business Index, says El-Sewedy

The Ministerial Economic Group approved, in principle, a new draft law to facilitate the procedures of licensing industrial facilities on Monday.
The draft law will be presented to the cabinet during its meeting on 23 March, according to a cabinet statement.
The new draft law is expected to cut down the length of procedures for issuing industrial licenses. It further aims to address bureaucracy, as well as the overlapping of jurisdictions of a number of authorities with the power to issue licences, according to the statement.
Commenting on the law, Chairman of Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) Mohamed Zaki El-Sewedy concurred that the draft law will accelerate the start of operations of any industrial project and eliminate bureaucracy – issues which stand as obstacles preventing the expansion of companies and the attraction of new ones.
"I hope the government completes discussions on the law promptly to unify the authorities responsible for issuing industrial licenses, which will contribute to the improvement of Egypt's ranking in the World Bank's Doing Business Index," El-Sewedy said.
The new draft law aims to address the wider issue of granting licences, as it is one of the main factors determining the low rankings Egypt receives from international institutions. Furthermore, the cabinet contends that it is one of the main elements that drive back investment.
According to the new law, industries can obtain licenses only by informing the authority that will be selected to be responsible for this, on the condition that these industries do not pose high health, environment or safety risks.
"Industries that pose a threat to the environment will be obliged to inform the authorised administrative body of their activity. The industries will have to submit data and documents determined by regulations to this body, in accordance with the nature of the risks posed by the activity," the statement read.
The law includes an overhaul of the previous approach adopted for issuing licenses, and reviewing requirements.
The role of the administrative authority is responsible for reviewing documents and inspecting facilities to ensure they meet requirements. In cases of violations, the authority will inform investors to adhere to requirements within three months.