CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), Hossam Heiba said that the launch of the unit comes in with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly directives to form a permanent unit to support entrepreneurs and startups that includes representatives of all parties concerned with entrepreneurship
Egypt launched the headquarters of the Entrepreneurship and Startups Unit at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones along with the unit’s electronic platform.
CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), Hossam Heiba said that the launch of the unit comes in with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly directives to form a permanent unit to support entrepreneurs and startups that includes representatives of all parties concerned with entrepreneurship.
Heiba added that the unit will specialize in communicating with entrepreneurs to learn about the challenges they face and their proposals and ideas to develop appropriate solutions to develop the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Egypt.
The unit’s electronic platform will display all the services provided by government agencies that support entrepreneurship, information about the startup environment in Egypt, and financing bodies interested in the sector, including incubators, business accelerators, and investment funds.
The CEO of GAFI has announced the formation of a voluntary advisory council fully represented by the private sector and entrepreneurs. The council will work to propose policies, laws, and regulations that support the growth and prosperity of emerging companies in Egypt, which is the main goal of establishing the unit. Additionally, the unit will establish headquarters in various governorates of Egypt to ensure communication with entrepreneurs across the country.
Heiba reviewed some files undertaken by the Entrepreneurship and Startups Unit, the most important of which is developing a clear and specific definition for start-up companies and entrepreneurship projects, to facilitate their obtaining the incentives allocated to start-up companies contained in the Medium, Small, and Micro Enterprise Development Law of 2020.
The unit will inventory and analyze the procedures and incentives provided to startup companies and entrepreneurs. It will propose a new set of incentives during the next stage and activate mechanisms to reduce the exit time for startup companies. The goal is to ensure that the total duration of the liquidation process does not exceed 90 days from the date of application. Additionally, the unit will prepare a proposal to establish a special tax office for startup companies.
Head of the Central Entrepreneurship Department at the Authority, Hossam Abdel Qader, said that the unit’s headquarters will include an office specialized in electronic establishment procedures for startup companies, an office to respond to inquiries related to entrepreneurs, and an office to receive proposals, complaints, and challenges from representatives of startup companies.
