A quick glimpse at the international investments in Egypt and their
progress presents evidence to the welcoming and growing environment
that poses a great investment opportunity. Some European businesses
are experiencing an annual growth in sales of 45% and are therefore
keen on continuing their efforts in such a dynamic marketplace.
Egypt has the potential for being the region’s leader in
ICT. Situated in a geographically strategic location, setup with
the necessary infrastructure, still in the growth and development
phase of its market, and getting direct attention from the government,
Egypt is an attractive asset to any investor who is interested
in the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
Whether politically, legally, financially or from the business
perspective, Egypt has all the elements of an ICT industry hub
in MEA. The geographic location is a plus for any investor in
the region. Having a regional office in Egypt will facilitate
transactions, transportations, and otherwise between countries
of the region, Europe, and the states.
Egypt has proved over history to be the most stable and tolerant
nation in the very turbulent political setup it exists in. Political
harmony with its neighbors encourages investment and has enticed
other countries to form trade relations with Egypt. Egypt manages
excellent trade relations with all its neighbors in the region
and the rest of the world.
Egypt has been diligently working on providing the comfortable
setup for investors in general and entrepreneurs in ICT in particular.
There has been huge improvement in the telecom infrastructure
in the past 15 years making available high caliber technical staff,
the necessary facilities and links. Egypt has been investing in
its people as well. Investors find it easy to employ highly professional
and well-trained personnel in the area of business they are interested
in. That represents a motive as it saves them a lot of time and
money. Additionally, this high quality human resource base does
not come at a high price which is even more encouraging.
Egypt is conducive to investment and business development. The
setup it provides has become encouraging and reassuring for first
time investors. The great improvement in telecom infrastructure,
the availability of technical engineering talents and calibers,
and the flexible labor laws in the country set the stage
for a successful business venture.
Egypt produces over 22,000 IT professionals every year who are
university graduates from technical school with fluency in two
or more languages and who have received government-sponsored human
development programs. Thus far, more than 113,0000 Egyptians have
completed the government-sponsored IT basic training program,
approved by the UNESCO. At the end of the course, students take
the UNESCO-approved International Computer Driving License (ICDL)
exam. It is worth noting that the nature of Egypt’s population
is business-oriented. There are literally thousands to chose from
when it comes to recruiting candidates for establishing business
in Egypt.
More than 15 million young Egyptians are currently enrolled in
primary, secondary, and technical education. Meanwhile, over 265,000
university students graduate each year, as do more than 1.1 million
high school students. Out of the total number of university graduates,
16,000 graduate each year from technical universities, with more
than one third speaking two or more languages.
Egypt is constantly striving to create an environment conducive
to a thriving investment. Income and corporate taxes as well as
custom duties have been reduced dramatically. The Egyptian government
has passed several laws aiming at facilitating the road for investors
in the ICT industry. Of these laws is the investment law #8 of
1997 which includes many incentives for investors. Another law
is the intellectual property law #82 of 2002 which guarantees
punishment for violators. The electronic signature law #15 of
2004 effectively regulates electronic signature transactions away
from all the time-consuming and energy-wasting logistics. In 2003,
the Government of Egypt issued law #12 to regulate the relation
between the company and its employees. There is a lot of flexibility
in this law to allow maneuverability for the employer.
Egypt is one of the lowest cost base countries to invest in. One
of the factors that added to decreasing the cost was the floating
of the local currency in January 2003. Egypt has a skilled and
competitively cost-effective human resources pool. The average
pay for a programmer can be as low as $4/hour. Additionally, the
Egyptian government has reduced investment capital needed for
investing in Egypt by paying for the required training of the
Egyptian professionals according to the investor’s requirements.
This immediately adds to the investor’s bottom line; hence
providing higher returns on invested capital.
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