The General Authority For Investment and Free Zones ( GAFI )
As one of the arms of the Ministry of Investment, GAFI is the investor's partner in Egypt. It is the sole governmental authority concerned with facilitating investment procedures, assisting investors, and promoting the Egypt’s potential sectors abroad. Since its establishment in 1971 GAFI has maintained its leading role in servicing the business community in Egypt, and is broadening its scope to in positively influence Foreign direct investment in Egypt.
GAFI: A New Philosophy
The Mission:
GAFI, the body under the Ministry of Investment responsible for investment procedures and assisting investors in Egypt, has a new management philosophy with a clear mission: to become the facilitator, service provider and promoter to attract investments, achieving this through capitalizing on the expertise of a group of well-trained, highly motivated professionals.
Strategic Directions
• Broaden GAF’s role from a regulatory body into a proactive investment promotion agency.
• Build and project a positive image reflecting the country’s strategic directions and GAFI’s new directions.
• Develop/enhance an interactive working relation with different bodies affecting the investment climate in Egypt
• Develop people’s skills as being the main asset behind success
• Decentralize authority and empower people for the prompt/timely decision making
• Commit to full transparency in our policies and procedures
• Incorporate an after care mechanism that develops “servicing investors” culture
GAFI: Steps on the Route of Change
During its scope widening process, GAFI is undertaking a series of steps as follows:
First: GAFI adopted the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) mechanism that was inaugurated in April 2005, the OSS mechanism allows GAFI to be the investor business partner through the following services:
• GAFI assists investors in a variety of ways and acts on behalf of investors with regards to governmental agencies.
• All licenses required for the establishment and operations of a project are procured by GAFI on behalf of the investors within 72 hours.
• GAFI assists investors in site selection and land acquisition, whether for agricultural, industrial or touristic activities.
• GAFI certifies the production start dates.
• Simplification and shortening of internal procedures – an ongoing dynamic process
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The One Stop Shop has been established in GAFI's headquarter in Cairo and will be applied in Assiut, Ismailia, and Alexandria with the aim of facilitating bureaucratic obstacles facing investors.
Second: Cooperation with international organizations aims at restructuring GAFI to transform it to an investment promotion agency. Each is involved in one of the promotional activities that fully integrate with the others to assure a proactive suitable strategy.
MIGA:
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency in Cooperation with GAFI is undertaking a technical assistance to Egypt that encompasses international best practices and incorporates a design to ensure the creation and implementation of an investment promotion unit (Egypt Invest Program-EIP) within GAFI capable of competing internationally for FDI in keeping Egypt’s economic development policy objectives and priorities.
MIGA’s technical assistance will include:
• Development of GAFI’s investment promotion strategy
• Development of a detailed institutional business plan for GAFI IPA
• Development of sub-sectoral strategies
• Development and implementation of market intelligence coupled with intensive staff training
• Development and implementation of market proactive promotion program coupled with intensive staff training
• Development of promotion materials
• Development of sales techniques and proactive promotional campaigns
• Development and implementation of a policy advocacy and after care program coupled with intensive staff training.
• Implementation of a monitoring and follow up program over a 3 year period by MIGA to ensure alignment and effective implementation of the above activities.
• MIGA is also undertaking a comprehensive investment climate assessment under ministry of investment supervision.
ANIMA:
The ANIMA program, a 36 months-project, funded by the European Union, is part of the MEDA co-operation program between the European Union and 12 partner states to the South and East of the Mediterranean (Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey).
The program aims at increasing foreign direct investment in the Mediterranean through:
- Developing a co-operation between European investment promotion agencies (EU IPAs) and Mediterranean agencies (Med IPAs)
- Promoting the Mediterranean region as a whole
- Building a network linking Med and EU IPAs:
Training, transfer of knowledge, and exchange of experience (capacity building)
Economic intelligence, project identification, contacts (networking)
Data bases, comparisons, regional studies (benchmarking)
Fleishman-Hillard (FH):
As part of GAFI’s ambitious reform plan, GAFI is embarking on full-fledged communication campaign that will help in communicating these reforms to the key stakeholders mainly investors both local and foreign. FH is providing GAFI with international communications and public relations services, which are the main pillars of Egypt’s image building process.
European Union programs:
-Trade Enhancement Program
The program aims at improving the performance of the Egyptian commercial representative offices to be able to efficiently promote investment and become an essential part in the Egyptian investment promotion strategy.
The program will differentiate between proactive promoters and reactive promoters so as to build professional capacities in both areas.
-The Institutional Twinning Program
The program aims at technically assisting institutional capacity building in all fields.
The program will be carried out in GAFI, ministry of tourism, and the post services authority.
Third: Restructuring GAFI’s department to carry out its investment promotion role, through focusing on:
- Research and market Intelligence that provides sectoral/ sub sectoral analysis, potential opportunities, targeted investors, and targeting messages.
- Promotion and Facilitation
- After care for benefiting existing investors.