IFC Helps Streamline Business Procedures in Egypt
In Cairo:
Riham Mustafa
Phone: +202 24 619 140
Fax: +202
24 619 145
E-mail: rmustafa@ifc.org
Cairo, April 8, 2008—IFC, a member
of the World Bank Group, and Egypt’s Industrial Development Agency today
signed a memorandum of understanding to streamline and decentralize the
process of obtaining industrial licenses and help reduce the cost and time
involved in business start-up procedures. This is the second phase of a
project initiated in 2006 to implement business simplification solutions
in the country. As part of the initiative, a similar agreement was signed
between IFC and the Egyptian Ministry of Housing in March to help simplify
building permit systems.
Over the next two years, the project
will help create an integrated platform for business start-up procedures
at the national level. It will involve the government and the private sector
in identifying issues that hinder processes for obtaining licenses and
permits. IFC will help introduce international best practices, replicate
pilot reforms at the municipal level, and streamline the approval procedures
required by a large number of public entities. In cooperation with the
Industrial Development Agency, IFC will help roll out the simplified and
decentralized procedure that was developed in Alexandria to one-stop-shops
throughout the country that are managed by the General Authority for Investment
and Free Zones. IFC will also support operating license reform within the
industrial zones and will help develop a new law reflecting best regulatory
practices within these zones.
Frank Sader, IFC Senior Operations Manager,
said, “In phase one of the project, all partners joined efforts to tackle
new reforms for start-up procedures. This yielded positive results: the
Industrial Development Agency and the General Authority for Investment
and Free Zones cooperated to create a new process in Alexandria for industrial
licensing that helped reduce the time for applicants by 42 percent and
the cost by 27 percent. Replicating these simplification solutions at the
national level and injecting new international best practices in start-up
regulations will be the focus of the project’s second phase.”
The project is managed by IFC Advisory
Services in the Middle East and North Africa – PEP-MENA and cofinanced
through a grant from the Swiss government.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic
growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment,
mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets,
and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments.
IFC’s vision is that people should have the opportunity to escape poverty
and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized
an additional $3.9 billion through syndications and structured finance
for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory
services in 97 countries. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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