House Industry Committee rejects clauses of the automotive directive: The House of Representatives’ Industry Committee will send the automotive directive back to cabinet after rejecting some of its clauses, said committee member Mohamed El Zeeny. He states that the committee rejected articles that impose a 0.5% tithe on the industry’s profits which will go towards an industry development fund. The committee is apparently advocating for an optional “membership fee” for companies that want to participate in the automotive directive’s incentives program. The fee would be “progressive” depending on the how many vehicles are exported. The House is expected to vote on the legislation in a month after the government signs off on the rewrites (and sends them to Maglis El Dawla), committee member Tarek El Sayed tells Al Borsa.

This comes as the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association is organizing a meeting with Mercedes-Benz to discuss the possibility of resuming assembly in Egypt. The company shut down its assembly plant here last year. Attending the meeting will be representatives of the Industry and Trade Ministry, the Federation of Egyptian Industries and GB Auto, Al Borsa reports. It is unclear where Mercedes-Benz stands on the directive, but other companies, including Peugeot-Citroën, have made passing the measure a must to consider assembling in Egypt.