European Companies Signing More than $42 Bln Worth of Deals in Egypt

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pauses before speaking during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, on June 20, 2023. (AP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pauses before speaking during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, on June 20, 2023. (AP)
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European Companies Signing More than $42 Bln Worth of Deals in Egypt

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pauses before speaking during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, on June 20, 2023. (AP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pauses before speaking during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, on June 20, 2023. (AP)

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday European companies were signing more than 20 new deals or MOUs worth a total of more than 40 billion euros ($42.85 billion) at the Egypt-EU Investment Conference, Reuters reported.
The joint Investment Forum, which takes place in Cairo on 29th and 30th of June, is a first key deliverable of the Egypt-EU Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership agreed by the presidents of the EU and Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in March 2024.
The Partnership covers political relations, economic stability, investments and trade, migration and mobility, security and demography, and human capital.

The Conference will bring together some 1,000 participants, including Egyptian and EU Ministers, senior officials, European financial institutions and CEOs from a wide range of sectors from both the EU and Egypt.



Türkiye Says Aims to Rein in Tax Breaks, Target Avoidance in Reform Plan

A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
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Türkiye Says Aims to Rein in Tax Breaks, Target Avoidance in Reform Plan

A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN

A drive by Türkiye 's government to modernize the country's tax system will seek to boost revenue by tackling tax avoidance and scrapping incentives that are no longer needed rather than raising the overall burden, the finance minister said on Monday.

Mehmet Simsek said, however, that preliminary draft proposals being discussed within the government envisioned a minimum 15% corporate tax on multinational companies, confirming a report last month by state-owned Anadolu Agency.

According to Reuters, he did not give further details about the proposal. At present, multinational companies face varying levies depending on numerous factors.

Speaking to local broadcaster BloombergHT, Simsek said the government's plans - which would need to be approved by parliament - also included raising the corporate tax on public-private partnerships (PPPs) to 30% from 25% at present.

Simsek, who has spearheaded a year-long policy-tightening program to tackle soaring inflation, said in Monday's interview that the tax plan being discussed by government officials was in the early stages and could be subject to changes before being presented to parliament.

He said there were no plans to introduce a transaction tax on the purchase and sale of stocks, but the government could propose taxes on stock market gains sometime in the future.

Earlier this month, an economy official said Türkiye had almost finalized work on imposing a transaction tax on the purchase and sale of stocks and crypto assets.
The plans are part of broader efforts to boost government savings, fiscal discipline and price stability after years of turmoil that fueled soaring inflation.

As part of the tightening program, the central bank has aggressively hiked interest rates to 50% from 8.5% since June last year. Annual inflation hit 75% in May but was expected to have dipped in June.