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Egypt to Establish Stable Tax System, Clear Investment Incentives

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly with CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, Hossam Haiba (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly with CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, Hossam Haiba (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Egypt to Establish Stable Tax System, Clear Investment Incentives

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly with CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, Hossam Haiba (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly with CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, Hossam Haiba (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Egypt is currently developing several proposals to improve its investment climate, including a stable tax system and clear investment incentives, announced the CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, Hossam Haiba.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly met with Haiba and the accompanying delegation and reviewed some procedures and measures to improve the investment climate in Egypt, including the mechanism for allocating land for investment projects and developing the system for issuing the required licenses.

Haiba asserted that the procedures and measures are essential for marketing and promoting a stable tax system and clear investment incentives, noting that a joint committee was formed from the Investment Authority and the tax and customs authorities for this purpose.

He said they would also address the investors' issues, adding that they must consider some legislative amendments related to the investment climate.

Haiba listed some of the offers the Investment Authority received from companies in several sectors before launching or expanding their activity in Egypt.

He referred to the requests submitted to the authority to establish industrial investment projects, especially in the 10th of Ramadan City, given its distinguished infrastructure and proximity to many ports and roads.

The Prime Minister welcomed any new investments, especially in the industrial sector, pointing out that the state has worked to provide facilities and incentives to attract investments in various sectors during the last period.

Madbouly stated that the 10th of Ramadan City, among other cities, enjoys promising opportunities for industrial investments.

The Premier said that his government is working to simplify investment procedures, especially those related to industrial projects while communicating with the business community and industrialists to overcome any challenges they face in implementing their projects.

Meanwhile, the CEO of the Saudi Egyptian Developers Company, Mohammed el-Taher, revealed that the company achieved sales worth EGP12 billion during the year 2022, despite all the challenges faced by the real estate sector during the past year.

Taher emphasized that these numbers reflect customers' confidence in the company, which has presented more than 50 real estate projects that included 23,764 residential, commercial, and administrative units in various governorates.

Saudi Egyptian Developers is among the top ten companies in sales in 2022.

The CEO added that the company fully trusts the Egyptian market and has expansion plans during the coming period, through which it seeks to provide housing units that meet the requirements of various customers and support the local economy.

The Saudi Egyptian Developers pumped new investments in 2022 amounting to about EGP1.3 billion, and the company is currently working on establishing and developing seven projects that include more than 5,000 residential, administrative, and commercial units.

The company is currently preparing to open the Nile Pearl Hotel.

The Saudi Egyptian Developers Company is an Egyptian joint stock company established in 1975 under an international agreement between the governments of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The company increased its capital more than once and currently reached EGP1.9 billion.

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Business

IMF and Arab Monetary Fund Sign MoU to Enhance Cooperation

The MoU was signed by IMF Managing Director Dr. Kristalina Georgieva and AMF Director General Dr. Fahad Alturki - SPA
The MoU was signed by IMF Managing Director Dr. Kristalina Georgieva and AMF Director General Dr. Fahad Alturki - SPA
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IMF and Arab Monetary Fund Sign MoU to Enhance Cooperation

The MoU was signed by IMF Managing Director Dr. Kristalina Georgieva and AMF Director General Dr. Fahad Alturki - SPA
The MoU was signed by IMF Managing Director Dr. Kristalina Georgieva and AMF Director General Dr. Fahad Alturki - SPA

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference on Emerging Market Economies (EME) to enhance cooperation between the two institutions.

The MoU was signed by IMF Managing Director Dr. Kristalina Georgieva and AMF Director General Dr. Fahad Alturki, SPA reported.

The agreement aims to strengthen coordination in economic and financial policy areas, including surveillance and lending activities, data and analytical exchange, capacity building, and the provision of technical assistance, in support of regional financial and economic stability.

Both sides affirmed that the MoU represents an important step toward deepening their strategic partnership and strengthening the regional financial safety net, serving member countries and enhancing their ability to address economic challenges.

Business

Saudi Chambers Federation Announces First Saudi-Kuwaiti Business Council

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
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Saudi Chambers Federation Announces First Saudi-Kuwaiti Business Council

File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT
File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT

The Federation of Saudi Chambers announced the formation of the first joint Saudi-Kuwaiti Business Council for its inaugural term (1447–1451 AH) and the election of Salman bin Hassan Al-Oqayel as its chairman.

Al-Oqayel said the council’s formation marks a pivotal milestone in economic relations between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, reflecting a practical approach to enabling the business sectors in both countries to capitalize on promising investment opportunities and strengthen bilateral trade and investment partnerships, SPA reported.

He noted that trade between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reached approximately SAR9.5 billion by the end of November 2025, including SAR8 billion in Saudi exports and SAR1.5 billion in Kuwaiti imports.

Business

Leading Harvard Trade Economist Says Saudi Arabia Holds Key to Success in Fragmented Global Economy

Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
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Leading Harvard Trade Economist Says Saudi Arabia Holds Key to Success in Fragmented Global Economy

Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).

Harvard University economics professor Pol Antràs said Saudi Arabia represents an exceptional model in the shifting global trade landscape, differing fundamentally from traditional emerging-market frameworks. He also stressed that globalization has not ended but has instead re-formed into what he describes as fragmented integration.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, Antràs said Saudi Arabia’s Vision-driven structural reforms position the Kingdom to benefit from the ongoing phase of fragmented integration, adding that the country’s strategic focus on logistics transformation and artificial intelligence constitutes a key engine for sustainable growth that extends beyond the volatility of global crises.

Antràs, the Robert G. Ory Professor of Economics at Harvard University, is one of the leading contemporary theorists of international trade. His research, which reshaped understanding of global value chains, focuses on how firms organize cross-border production and how regulation and technological change influence global trade flows and corporate decision-making.

He said conventional classifications of economies often obscure important structural differences, noting that the term emerging markets groups together countries with widely divergent industrial bases. Economies that depend heavily on manufacturing exports rely critically on market access and trade integration and therefore face stronger competitive pressures from Chinese exports that are increasingly shifting toward alternative markets.

Saudi Arabia, by contrast, exports extensively while facing limited direct competition from China in its primary export commodity, a situation that creates a strategic opportunity. The current environment allows the Kingdom to obtain imports from China at lower cost and access a broader range of goods that previously flowed largely toward the United States market.

Addressing how emerging economies should respond to dumping pressures and rising competition, Antràs said countries should minimize protectionist tendencies and instead position themselves as committed participants in the multilateral trading system, allowing foreign producers to access domestic markets while encouraging domestic firms to expand internationally.

He noted that although Chinese dumping presents concerns for countries with manufacturing sectors that compete directly with Chinese production, the risk is lower for Saudi Arabia because it does not maintain a large manufacturing base that overlaps directly with Chinese exports. Lower-cost imports could benefit Saudi consumers, while targeted policy tools such as credit programs, subsidies, and support for firms seeking to redesign and upgrade business models represent more effective responses than broad protectionist measures.

Globalization has not ended

Antràs said globalization continues but through more complex structures, with trade agreements increasingly negotiated through diverse arrangements rather than relying primarily on multilateral negotiations. Trade deals will continue to be concluded, but they are likely to become more complex, with uncertainty remaining a defining feature of the global trading environment.

Interest rates and artificial intelligence

According to Antràs, high global interest rates, combined with the additional risk premiums faced by emerging markets, are constraining investment, particularly in sectors that require export financing, capital expenditure, and continuous quality upgrading.

However, he noted that elevated interest rates partly reflect expectations of stronger long-term growth driven by artificial intelligence and broader technological transformation.

He also said if those growth expectations materialize, productivity gains could enable small and medium-sized enterprises to forecast demand more accurately and identify previously untapped markets, partially offsetting the negative effects of higher borrowing costs.

Employment concerns and the role of government

The Harvard professor warned that labor markets face a dual challenge stemming from intensified Chinese export competition and accelerating job automation driven by artificial intelligence, developments that could lead to significant disruptions, particularly among younger workers. He said governments must adopt proactive strategies requiring substantial fiscal resources to mitigate near-term labor-market shocks.

According to Antràs, productivity growth remains the central condition for success: if new technologies deliver the anticipated productivity gains, governments will gain the fiscal space needed to compensate affected groups and retrain the workforce, achieving a balance between addressing short-term disruptions and investing in long-term strategic gains.