Doing Business in Egypt

The aims of the subject “Foreign Trade and Business in the Arab Republic of Egypt” are the following:

1. To analyze the Egyptian Economy and Global Trade;
2. To understand the strategic importance of the Suez Canal;
3. To know the business opportunities in Egypt;
4. To explore the Egyptian trade relations with the country of the student;
5. To know the Egyptian Trade Agreements;
6. To examine the profile of Egyptian Businesspeople;
7. To develop a business plan for the Egyptian Market.

The Subject “Foreign Trade and Business in Egypt” belongs to the following Online Higher Educational Programs taught by EENI Global Business School:

Doctorate (DIB): Islamic Business, African Business, World Trade.

Course: Business in East Africa.

Masters (MIB): Business in Africa International Business.

Learning materials in or Égypte Egito Egipto.

1. Credits of the subject “Foreign Trade and Business in Egypt”: 3 ;
2. Duration: three weeks.

1. Egyptian ports;
2. Suez Canal;
3. Trans-African corridors;
   1. Cairo-Gaborone Corridor;
   2. Cairo-Dakar Corridor.

Egyptian Market Access and Free Trade Agreements.

1. Egypt and the East African Economic Area;
2. Arab Mediterranean Free Trade Agreement - Agadir Agreement (العربية المتوسطية اتفاقية للتجارة الحرة - اتفاقية أغادير)
   1. Egypt-Jordan-Morocco-Tunisia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) / Agadir Agreement.
3. Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD);
4. Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
   1. COMESA-United States Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
5. COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Agreement;
6. African Continental Free-Trade Area (AfCFTA);
7. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Cameroon;
8. MERCOSUR-Egypt Free Trade Agreement (FTA);
9. Turkey-Egypt Free Trade Agreement (FTA);
10. European Free Trade Association (EFTA)-Egypt Free Trade Agreement (FTA);
11. Islamic Trade Preferential System (TPS-OIC);
12. Greater Arab Free-Trade Area (GAFTA);
13. Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA);
14. Arab Trade Financing Programme (ATFP);
15. Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP);
16. Protocol Relating to Trade Negotiations Among Developing Countries (PTN);
17. Nile Basin Initiative (NBI);
18. European Union:
    1. European Union-Egypt Association Agreement;
    2. European Neighborhood Policy;
    3. Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED).
19. United Kingdom-Egypt Free Trade Agreement;
20. Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (Observer);
21. Central American Integration System (SICA) (Observer);
22. International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) - Guest Member;
23. Indian-Ocean Rim Association (IORA) (dialogue partner).

1. World Trade Organization (WTO)
   1. WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS);
   2. WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS);
   3. WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT);
   4. WTO Agreement on Preshipment Inspection (PSI);
   5. WTO Agreement on Safeguards (SG);
   6. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
2. World Customs Organization (WCO)
   1. Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC).
3. Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM / IATA);
4. International Bureau of Containers and Intermodal Transport (BIC);
5. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, Chicago Convention);
6. International Maritime Organization (IMO)
   1. Convention Relating to Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention).
7. Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (Hamburg Rules, UN);
8. International Road Transport Union (IRU)
   1. TIR Convention;
   2. Guidelines on Safe Load Securing for Road Transport.
9. Customs Convention on Containers (CCC, UN) - not a member.

Islamic Organizations. Egypt is a member of:

1. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA);
2. Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
   1. Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC);
   2. Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI);
   3. Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT);
   4. Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC).
3. Arab League (LAS);
4. Islamic Development Bank (IsDB);
5. Afro-Arab Cooperation;
6. Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA);
7. Asia-Middle East (Egypt) Dialogue;
8. Summit of South American-Arab Countries (ASPA);
9. Arab Development Funds.

African Trade and Economic Organizations:

1. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA);
2. African Union (AU)
   1. African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (not signed);
   2. African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD).
3. African Development Bank (AfDB);
4. Africa-Asia Strategic Partnership (NAASP);
5. Africa-Korea Partnership;
6. Africa-Japan Cooperation (TICAD);
7. Africa-South America Summit (ASA);
8. Forum on China-Africa Cooperation;
9. Africa-India Framework for Cooperation;
10. Africa-BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa);
11. Africa-Turkey Partnership.

Global Organizations:

1. United Nations (UN)
   1. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD);
   2. International Trade Centre (INTRACEN);
   3. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
2. World Bank (WB);
3. World Trade Organization (WTO);
4. International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Arab Republic of Egypt stands at a fortunate strategic location linking Asia (Middle East), Africa, and Europe

1. Capital of Egypt: Cairo;
2. Largest cities: Cairo, Alexandria, Shubra El Kheima, Giza, Port Said, Suez;
3. Egyptian language: Arabic;
4. Egypt is Semi-Presidential Republic;
5. Egypt became independent from the United Kingdom in 1922;
6. Area of Egypt: 1,001,459 square kilometers;
7. Egyptian population: 97 million people;
8. 20% of the Egyptian population is under the poverty line;
9. Currency of Egypt: Egyptian Pound;
10. Uncertainty after the Arab Spring, so great caution when doing business is advised;
11. Almost six out of ten Egyptians are under twenty-five years;
12. Egyptians are enthusiastic, educated, forward-thinking and open to new opportunities;
13. The educational system has improved significantly;
14. Egypt offers comparatively well-qualified;
15. The Arab Republic of Egypt has developed a multi-cultural community, mixing traditions of Africa and the Middle East;
16. Egyptian borders: Israel, Jordan, Libya, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

More information: Egypt (EENI African Business Portal).

Egypt, the “cultural lighthouse” of the Arab Countries.

Religion in Egypt.

Islam is the state religion since 1980.

1. Egypt is predominantly Sunni Muslim, with 80 million Muslims (94.7% of the population in 2010);
2. Sharia is the primary source of legislation;
3. Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence): Maliki;
4. There are an estimated 12 million Coptic Orthodox.

Egypt belongs to the East African Economic Area of the African Civilization, but culturally also it belongs to the Islamic Civilization.

Egyptian Economy.

1. Egypt is a gateway to the largest markets by the way of preferential and regional trade agreements;
2. Egypt's 90 million population, growing at a rate of 2% annually, represents a significant local market for any investor;
3. customs duties reduction has opened the Egyptian market to international trade;
4. Business procedures have been reduced;
5. Corporate and personal taxes have been cut;
6. The cost of Doing Business in the Arab Republic of Egypt is greatly favorable, particularly labour and land costs;
7. Movement of products is being speeded up with an improved transport system;
8. The Egyptian ports are being modernized;
9. The Arab Republic of Egypt is the economic and cultural centre of a region of 800 million people and a hub for maritime traffic with commercial ports on the Mediterranean and Red Sea;
10. Egyptian GDP (nominal): 216,830 billion;
11. Inflation (CPI): 10.1%;
12. Unemployment in Egypt: 9.7%;
13. The main Egyptian economic sectors are tourism, textiles, cement, food industry, chemicals, metals, pharmaceuticals, hydrocarbons, construction, and light manufacturing;
14. Egypt is considered the gateway to some of the largest markets in the world (Egypt maintains preferential trade agreements with several countries);
15. The airports are being remodeled to meet the growing flow of passengers and cargo; a modern road network is linking Egypt to the Middle East, Africa and, through the neighboring countries, to Europe.

Ahmed Mekky is the co-founder and Managing Director (CEO) of Gulf Bridge International.

Egyptian Foreign Trade.

1. Egyptian exports: 22.91 billion dollars;
2. The main Egyptian export markets are Italy, the United States, Spain, India, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Japan;
3. Egyptian imports: 43.98 billion dollars;
4. The major suppliers of Egypt are the United States, China, Italy, Germany, and Saudi Arabia.

Investment Environment in the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The Ministry of Investment implements definitive policies to promote and develop the foreign direct investment by:

1. Creating the appropriate organizational and legislative environment for investment;
2. Foreign direct investment promotion;
3. Efficiency progress measurement.

EENI delivers to HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal a Master Honoris Causa.

(c) EENI Global Business School (1995-2023)
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