Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly met with the CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) Hossam Heiba on Monday to follow up on GAFI's efforts to attract foreign and local investments. During the meeting, Heiba said that efforts to improve the investment climate in recent months have attracted new investments from startups, medium-sized, and large projects in various economic sectors. He said that four companies have been granted the golden license, which is a fast-track, single-approval license that aims to support projects in sectors of developmental priority to Egypt. He explained that four companies have been granted the golden license: "BLM & Africa" for medical dressings," "Red Sea" for wind energy, "Gennvax Egypt" for vaccines, and "Midea Electric Egypt." This brings the total number of companies obtaining the golden license to 22. Heiba also said that the electronic portal for establishing companies with the authority, which was launched last month, has received 65 electronic company establishment requests. Out of those, 30 companies have already been established, while the rest are in the process of fulfilling the requirements mentioned in their establishment requests. The Prime Minister also followed up on the results of the Asian promotion tour carried out by GAFI, which included China and Singapore. Heiba said that the Authority, in cooperation with the Egyptian Embassy in Beijing, organized an Egyptian-Chinese investment forum on the sidelines of the Authority's delegation visit, with the participation of more than 70 Chinese companies. During the forum, it was emphasized that companies can be established in Chinese yuan and electronically. The CEO of the Authority also participated in the "Investing in the Middle East" forum. The Chinese institutions were also presented with a proposal for joint development of four industrial zones and three new free zones, similar to what the Chinese company "TEDA" did in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Heiba emphasized that GAFI has supported small and medium-sized projects by awarding contracts for manufacturing and exporting furniture activities to several applicants operating workshops in the investment zone of Damietta Furniture City. Heiba also indicated that GAFI is considering launching an initiative to create an electronic platform for displaying government projects and supply needs on a platform for startups and small companies. The goal is to provide opportunities for them in government procurement and to provide a service to assist startups and small companies with less than EGP 3m in capital.
