Chairperson of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), Mohamed Abdel Karim, has stated that overcoming the obstacles and challenges facing investors is a top priority for IDA in its constant endeavour to develop its services to investors. IDA Deputy Chairperson Hazem Anan delivered a speech on behalf of Abdel Karim on Sunday, in a meeting with the members of the Sixth of October Investors Association. He said that 6th of October City is considered one of Egypt's industrial hubs, and IDA is keen on maintaining constant and direct communication with representatives of the industrial community. Anan and Nahed Youssef, the deputy chairperson of the Authority for Services and Industry Development, headed the delegation during the meeting. Anan explained that there are two mechanisms for allocating industrial lands through the electronic portal for industrial land allocation, which provides data on all available investment opportunities and comprehensive information on industrial areas. This happens with complete transparency and speed. In addition, there is the 2067 committee chaired by the authority and various other state bodies. It is concerned with several aspects. They include unifying the body that investors deal with, collecting and examining requests of serious investors for obtaining industrial lands, evaluating them and making decisions about them, and providing the authority with the information needed on vacant lands to speed up procedures. The IDA deputy chairman reviewed the facilitations made by the authority in the land allocation sector, which was announced recently by the chairman of the authority, including incentives (financial and documentary). The most important of these incentives included reducing the costs of considering submitted applications, cancelling offer submission fees, reducing the advance payment from EGP 100,000 to 10 % of the total price of the land, and eliminating the requirement to submit a bank guarantee letter to prove seriousness. He pointed out that one of the most prominent facilitations is requesting that investors provide only a simplified system of the features of the project instead of a full-fledged study, and exempting these investors from submitting credit inquiry documents. With regard to financial solvency, it is now sufficient for an investor to submit an account statement that covers 50% of the total price of the land. Anan added that the authority provided unprecedented facilitations to project owners to prove their seriousness. A six-month grace period was granted for projects within or outside the set timetable. Additionally, 50% of the financial fines will be deducted, with the possibility of paying instalments for the remaining period, up to three years, or a deduction of 75% of the amount upon immediate payment. In addition to that, the projects now are considered to have started from the point when installing utilities is completed, and not a minute before that. In implementation of the state's directives to legalize the conditions of unlicensed industrial projects, a ministerial decision was issued regarding the rules and procedures according to which the authority, within a maximum period of three years from the date of implementation of Law No. 19 of 2023, grants temporary operating permits for a period of one year to unlicensed industrial facilities. Youssef stated that over the past months, the Authority witnessed a great development in the licensing procedures, the industrial registry, and the linkage with the various authorities to speed up the mechanisms for providing services to the investor. In implementation of the decision of the Prime Minister, the authority issues industrial licenses within a period of no longer than 20 days for licensing high-risk establishments, and less than five days for licensing low-risk projects. In order to achieve this, Youssef revealed the directives of the authority chairman to continue developing the inspection system to make it electronic. The inspector records the data of the facility digitally on the spot through a tablet. He then sends it to the headquarters from the factory with the geographical signature of the factory coordinates. More efforts were exerted to put an end to all late inspections in the authority that had accumulated over the years. Youssef also emphasized the convening of weekly committees with both the Civil Protection Authority and the Environmental Affairs Agency. There is also regular connection with the Ashrafiya Complex to speed up the completion of investor licensing procedures. She added that one of the most important facilitations includes allowing owners of industrial facilities to pay the annual follow-up fees every three/five years instead of every year at the authority's headquarters. The authority also allows investors to submit an application to renew the industrial register two full months before its expiry date, so that investors can complete procedures without any delays or disruptions. Moustafa Obeid, Chairperson of the Industry Committee of the Association, said that the Investors Association and the Authority are two sides of the same coin. He stressed the importance of the continuous cooperation between the parties, through a cooperation agreement or a permanent joint committee to solve the problems of investors first and foremost. It is worth noting that a work group comprising the authority's leaders responded to the association's members' inquiries, and discussed some special challenges related to a number of factories to take the necessary measures to solve them.
