Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, followed up on the executive position of the National Export Support Program, in a meeting held today, in the presence of Lieutenant General Kamel Al-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development, Minister of Industry and Transport, Mr. Ahmed Kojok, Minister of Finance, Eng. Hassan Al-Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Ms. Sherine Al-Sharqawi, First Assistant Minister of Finance for Economic Affairs, and Dr. Amani Al-Wasal, Head of the Agreements and Foreign Trade Sector, Executive Director of the Export Development Fund.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister confirmed that he had previously directed the Ministries of Industry and Finance to have a specific vision for the export support program that would contribute to achieving the Egyptian state’s goals of doubling exports in the coming period and reaching $100 billion annually in 2030.
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly added that it had previously been emphasized that there should be a speedy disbursement of exporters’ dues, so that this does not exceed a period of 3 months, and that there should also be a commitment to arrears over specific payment periods for those entitled to them, with the possibility of a tax offset or any other government dues, as well as obtaining new lands.
The Prime Minister pointed out the importance of periodic evaluation of this program to measure its achievement of the targets, which would contribute to maximizing the return from the financing programs provided to support exports, directing in this regard that support be increased for everyone who has achieved success and has actually been able to help achieve the state’s targets from this program.
The Prime Minister added that there are specific criteria in the program that will be relied upon to disburse the value of the support allocated to exporters, and among those criteria are those related to the transfer and localization of technology, the size of the workforce, increasing the percentage of the local component, and expanding the opening of more new markets.
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, announced that the trial operation of the automated system to support exports has already been completed, with preparations currently underway for its official launch.
During the meeting, Mr. Ahmed Kojak, Minister of Finance, presented the most important efforts made in coordination with various relevant authorities to implement the Egyptian Export Support Initiative, during the period from 2019 to 2024, explaining that 6 phases of the initiative were implemented between 2019 and 2023, benefiting more than 2,351 companies, with a total support of EGP 54.15 billion. The implementation of the seventh phase, which witnessed the benefit of 900 companies, began during 2023/2024 with support of EGP 8 billion, and is currently being completed, as it is scheduled for 300 additional companies to benefit during 2024/2025 with support of EGP 3 billion. For her part, Dr. Amani Al-Wasal provided an explanation of the automated system for supporting exports that was piloted, and discussed the services it provides, such as submitting a company registration request, a support disbursement request, or submitting the budget, as the system allows for completing the steps easily and smoothly, submitting the required documents through a single window, and then following up on the request digitally until obtaining the required service, as part of efforts to enhance digital transformation.
Counselor Mohamed Al-Hamasani, the official spokesman for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, stated that the meeting witnessed a review of the opinions and proposals of the concerned ministers and officials, regarding the new program, as it was confirmed that the draft program will be presented to the Board of Directors of the Export Support Fund, which includes a number of private sector officials, in preparation for presentation to the Council of Ministers.
