Egypt's Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has said that executive procedures have been commenced to extend the umbrella of the Vehicle Replacement Initiative to include microbuses. The extension comes in implementation of the Egyptian political leadership's directives to maximise the benefits of the presidential initiative to replace aging vehicles with new ones powered by natural gas. The latest step applies to include microbus vehicles that were manufactured 20 years ago or more, with the first phase to cover the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Qaliubiya, Alexandria, Suez, Port Said, and the Red Sea. In a statement on Saturday, Maait said that the step comes as part of the state's efforts to shift to a green economy and rely more on clean energy. It also reflects Egypt's keenness to reduce the burdens on citizens and facilitate their ownership of new, economically and environmentally friendly vehicles. This is by providing unprecedented incentives and credit facilities, instead of their aging vehicles that cost them a lot to operate and maintain. The minister explained that requests to replace aging microbuses with new ones powered by natural gas will be received through the initiative's website, www.gogreenmasr.com, from July. This will take place using the same procedures and controls for owners, with the minister pointing to the disbursement of a green incentive of 25% off the price of the new vehicle, or a maximum of EGP 65,000 for a microbus. He pointed out that the prices of new vehicles offered through the presidential initiative are lower than the market price. They are also equipped with natural gas cylinders, with Maait adding that the initiative deals with companies producing vehicles in the local market only. The initiative is aiming to ensure that all vehicles under the initiative come with a local component of at least 45%, which contributes to the localisation of the automotive industry and feeding industries in Egypt. He said that, from July, microbus owners will enjoy the same facilities that were recently approved for owners and renters, as the credit enquiry procedures carried out by banks were facilitated. This helps reduce the time required to issue the final approval for car financing, and reduce cases of rejection by allocating spaces on the initiative's website. The new facilities aim to record additional data including the workplace, current residence, net income, and the land phone number. Maait said that some data on the old car was considered optional, such as the "car model", to overcome the problems that some citizens were facing because their old car model was not registered on the car licence. This was an obstacle that prevented the successful completion of the registration process on the site, as the entry of the "car model" statement was mandatory. He pointed out that citizens are allowed to retrieve the "replacement request" number through the website by entering some basic data, including the national number, and the phone number registered on the website.
