Investment Guarantees in Egypt

Articles (3-7) of the Investment Act provide the enumeration of investment guarantees in Egypt. The procedures for such guarantees are set out in articles (7-9) of the implementing regulations.

1. All investments made in the Arab Republic of Egypt enjoy fair and equitable treatment.
2. The State guarantees the foreign investor similar treatment to that granted to the national investor, and an exception may be made by decision of the Council of Ministers to establish preferential treatment for foreign investors in the application of the principle of reciprocity.
3. Invested funds are not subject to arbitrary procedures or discriminatory decisions.
4. The State grants non-Egyptian investors’ residence in the Arab Republic of Egypt for the duration of the project, without prejudice to the provisions of the laws governing it and as set out in the implementing regulations of this Law.
5. The State is under an obligation to respect and enforce the contracts entered into by it. The investment project established on the basis of fraud, fraud, and corruption does not enjoy the protection, guarantees, benefits, or exemptions established by the provisions of this Law, all of which are proved by a judicial judgment issued by the competent court or by an arbitral award.
6. With regard to the application of the provisions of this Act, all decisions relating to the affairs of an investment project shall be justified and notified to the persons concerned, as regulated by the implementing regulations of this Act.
7. Investment projects may not be nationalized.
8. The funds of investment projects may be dispossessed only for the benefit of the public, in exchange for fair compensation paid in advance without delay, the value of which is equal to the fair economic value of the money dispossessed on the day prior to the confiscation decision, and the compensation shall be freely convertible.
9. These projects may not be guarded by administrative means and may only be guarded by a final judicial decision and may not be seized except by a court order or judgment, all of which may only be in the circumstances specified in the Law.
10. Funds for investment projects may not be seized, confiscated or frozen except on the basis of a court order or final judgment, except for tax debts and social insurance contributions due to the State, which may be collected through seizure of all kinds, without prejudice to what is agreed in contracts concluded by the State or public legal persons with the investor.
11. No administrative authority may issue general regulatory decisions adding financial or procedural burdens relating to the establishment or operation of projects subject to the provisions of this Act or the charging of fees or for services or their modification unless the opinion of the Board of Directors of the Authority and the approval of both the Council of Ministers and the Supreme Council have been taken.
12. The administrative authorities may not revoke the licenses issued for the investment project, suspend them or withdraw the real estate allocated to the project until the investor has been notified of the irregularities attributed to him, heard his perspective and given an appropriate period of time to remove the reasons for the violation.
13.  In any event, the opinion of the Board of Directors of the Authority must be taken before the decisions referred to in the initial paragraph are made, and the Board shall give its opinion within seven days from the date of receipt of the request, which shall meet all established legal procedures.
14. The investor has the right to appeal against this decision before the committee provided for in article 83 of this Act.
15. The investor has the right to establish, expand and finance the investment project from abroad without restriction and in foreign currency. The investor has the right to own, manage, use, dispose of, earn and transfer profits abroad, to liquidate the project and to transfer all or some of its output abroad, without prejudice to the rights of others.
16. The State allows all cash transfers related to foreign investment to be made freely and without delay into its territory and abroad in freely convertible currency and allows the local currency to be converted into freely usable currency without delay.
17. In the event of liquidation, the competent administrative authorities are obliged to notify the Commission and the company under liquidation of its obligations within a maximum period of one hundred and twenty days from the date of submission of a request by the liquidator, together with the necessary documentation. The expiration of that period without the indication of such obligations shall be deemed to be the conclusion of a company under liquidation, without prejudice to the criminal and disciplinary responsibility of those responsible for making a non-factual statement or for causing the delay of the said date without response to the request.
18. Investment projects subject to the provisions of this Act shall have the right to import, by themselves or through third parties, such raw materials, inputs, machinery, spare parts, and means of transport as may be necessary for their establishment, expansion or operation as may be necessary for the registration of importers.
19. These enterprises are also entitled to export their own products or to mediate without a permit and without the need to register them in the register of exporters.
20. The investment project has the right to employ foreign workers up to 10% of the total number of project workers, which may be increased to over 20% of the total number of project workers, in the event that no national employment with the necessary qualifications can be employed, in accordance with the regulations and rules laid down in the implementing regulations of this Law.
21. In certain strategic projects of particular importance defined by a decision of the Supreme Council, exceptions may be made to the above-mentioned ratios provided that the training of national workers is taken into account. Foreign workers in the investment project have the right to transfer all or some of their financial benefits abroad.