Egypt’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) net inflows increased by 71% to US$9 billion in fiscal year 2021/22, GAFI’s CEO Hossam Heiba said.

The CEO of the General Authority for Investment (GAFI) said that there is an adequate foreign currency flow in the Egyptian economy, whether from tourism, Suez Canal, or exports, which increased by 18% in the first half of the current year.

He added that 70% of the companies that got a golden license have already started operations, and 17 licenses have been granted.

A study is currently underway to conduct a classification of companies so that a golden license is granted to a certain category of companies, a silver license with another standard, and a platinum license with other different standards, the CEO of GAFI explained.

The one-stop shop system currently applied in the Authority includes the various entities concerned with the field of investment, and they are about 67 different entities, according to GAFI.

Heiba explained that there is an after-sales service for investors, which means following up on the investor’s issues and working on resolving them within a period of 125 days.

Egypt has become a global center for the manufacture of home appliances, and in some companies, local production has reached 70% of the total components of the appliances. 

Moreover, approximately 80% of the largest international companies in the field of home appliances have investments in Egypt, including about three projects that obtained the Golden Licence, including the largest company in the world in the field of home appliances, the Chinese Haier company. 

The authority’s main goal is to create a logistic center for the manufacture of household appliances in Egypt, with a local component of up to 90% within five years, according to Heiba. He concluded: “The GAFI is interested in the real estate sector and supports all its parties because it is one of the important aspects for  export and support for the Egyptian economy.”