INLAND


Investment Guarantees:

  1. All the investments established within the Arab Republic of Egypt shall receive fair and just treatment.
  2. The State shall ensure to the foreign investor the same treatment granted to the national investor. Under a decree issued by the Cabinet of Ministers, an exception can be made granting the foreign investors a preferential treatment in application of the principle of reciprocity.
  3. The invested assets shall not be subject to any arbitrary procedures or discriminatory decisions.
  4. The State shall grant the non-Egyptian investors residence in the Arab Republic of Egypt throughout the term of the Investment Project without prejudice to the provisions of the relevant regulating laws.
  5. The State shall honor and enforce contracts entered into thereby. The Investment Project set up on a basis of fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, or corruption may not enjoy the protection, guarantees, privileges, or exemptions established under the provisions of this Law, proof of the foregoing shall be produced by a res judicata judgment – delivered by the judicial authority of competent jurisdiction – or by an arbitration award.
  6. All decisions on investment project affairs shall be reasoned decisions. The parties concerned shall be notified with a service of notice of such decisions.
  7. The Investment Projects may not be nationalized.
  8. Assets of Investment Project may not be expropriated unless for public utility and in return for a just compensation to be paid in advance without delay. The value of the compensation shall amount to the fair economic value of the expropriated assets on the preceding day to the issuance of the expropriation decision. Such compensation shall be freely transferrable.
  9. Subject to the situations specified in law, Investment Project may not be sequestrated through administrative procedures, save when warranted by virtue of a final court judgment, nor may it be subject to attachment, save when warranted by virtue of a court order or judgment.
  10. Assets of Investment Project may neither be seized nor confiscated nor frozen, save when warranted by virtue of a court order or final judgment, with the exception of tax debts and social insurance subscriptions due to the State; such debts and subscriptions may be collected by all kinds of seizure, without prejudice to the contracts entered into by the State or public juridical persons with Investor.
  11. Any administrative body may not issue general regulatory resolutions that add financial or procedural burdens in respect of the setup or operation of the projects governed by this Law, nor may it impose or amend the fees or consideration for services prescribed for the projects, except after having obtained the opinion of the board of directors of GAFI ("GAFI BoD") and upon the approval of both the Council of Ministers and SCI.
  12. An administrative body may not revoke or suspend the licenses issued for Investment Project, nor may it reclaim the real property allocated for same, unless it has served a notice on Investor comprising the violations with which Investor is charged, has heard Investor's evidence and has given Investor an adequate grace period to rectify the violations.In all cases, GAFI's opinion shall be obtained before taking any of the actions referred to in the aforementioned paragraph. GAFI shall give its opinion within seven (7) days from the date on which GAFI receives a request to that effect satisfying all prescribed legal procedures.Investor may file a grievance against the aforementioned actions before the committee stated in Article (83) of this Law.
  13. Investor shall have the right to set up, launch and expand Investment Project, and shall fund same from abroad without any restrictions and with foreign currencies. Investor shall have the right to own, manage, use and dispose of Investment Project, to make profits from Investment Project, to transfer such profits abroad, to liquidate Investment Project and to transfer, whether in whole or in part, the proceeds of such liquidation abroad, without prejudice to the rights of third parties.
  14. The State shall permit all cash transfers in respect of foreign investment to be freely and promptly transferrable to and from the State using a freely convertible currency. The State shall permit conversion of local currency into a freely usable currency without delay.
  15. In case of liquidation, the appropriate administrative bodies shall, within maximum one hundred and twenty (120) days from the date on which the liquidator has filed an application of liquidation enclosing the required documentation, serve on GAFI and the company under liquidation a notice comprising a statement of liabilities of such company. The expiry of this period without notification of such liabilities shall be deemed a discharge on the part of companies under liquidation from said liabilities, without prejudice to the criminal and disciplinary liability of the person responsible for issuing a false statement or the person responsible for the lapse of the aforementioned time limit without replying to the application.
  16. Without prejudice to the provisions of the laws, regulations and decrees regulating importation, Investment Project governed by the provisions of this Law shall have the right to import, whether directly or through third parties, the necessary raw materials, production requirements, machinery, spare parts and means of transportation – compatible with nature of business of Investment Project – for the setup, expansion or operation of Investment Project, without the need to be registered in the Register of Importers.
  17. Investment Projects, subject to provisions of the Law, shall have the right to export its products, whether directly or through an intermediary, without a license and without the need to be registered in the Register of Exporters.
  18. An Investment Project shall have the right to employ foreign workers up to ten percent (10%) of the total number of Investment Project workers. Thispercentage may be increased up to twenty percent (20%), should employment of national workers having the required qualifications be not possible. For some strategic projects with special significance as listed by a resolution of the SCI, exceptions from the aforementioned percentages may be made, conditional on providing training to the national labor.
  19. Foreign workers in Investment Project shall have the right to transfer their financial dues, in whole or in part, abroad.