Madbouly: Gov’t to offer new tax breaks for high-value industries + won’t change course on expensive national projects despite economic headwinds
It was a slow night on the airwaves, with the talking heads focusing on a speech given by Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly at Fayoum yesterday (watch, runtime: 25:43). The presser got coverage from Kelma Akhira, Masaa DMC, Al Hayah Al Youm, Ala Mas’ouleety among others. Here are the highlights:
More tax breaks for high-value manufacturing: Cabinet is considering new incentives to attract investment in advanced industries including electric-vehicle assembly, Madbouly said. Under the plans, companies investing in target industries could see their tax bill slashed by 70%. The government is also considering amending the 2017 Investment Law to extend incentives set to expire in 2023 for an additional five years, he said.
The IDA is getting its act together on licensing: Some 20k industrial licenses have been issued by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) since the introduction of a new system over the summer to speed up the licensing process, Madbouly said. The new system sees licenses issued within no more than 20 days.
No turning back on mega-projects: The PM insisted that the government has no choice but to continue on with expensive national projects in response to calls for their suspension amid soaring inflation and rising economic headwinds. “We’re talking here about a state that is being built. If such projects are not implemented [in the current period], it will be implemented later at double the cost,” he said.
The National Dialogue still got attention on the talk shows, with Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 10:30) and Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 6:40) both covering Monday’s board meeting that selected several rapporteurs to the political, economic and social committees