Qatar and Egypt signed Monday in Doha a deal to remove double taxation on income, and prevent tax invasion and avoidance, the Egyptian government announced in a statement

Newsletter

01 Mar 2023

Qatar and Egypt signed Monday in Doha a deal to remove double taxation on income, and prevent tax invasion and avoidance, the Egyptian government announced in a statement. The agreement includes detailed provisions for the taxation rules and conditions by both countries, to prevent tax duplication, with respect to taxes on income from non-transferable assets, business profits, international sea and air transport activities, and joint projects, stock gains, interest and capital gains, as well as independent and non-independent personal services, the statement said. The agreement was signed by the Egyptian and Qatari Ministers of Finance, Mohamed Moait and Ali bin Ahmed Alkawari, in the presence of the two countries’ Prime Ministers Mustafa Madbouli and Sheikh Khaled bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani. The two countries will share required information to implement the provisions of the convention, or to administer or implement national tax laws of the two states. (North Africa Post)

The Egyptian Ministry of Finance has upgraded its budget deficit target for the current fiscal year (FY) 2022/2023 to 6.8% of gross domestic product (GDP), from the previous forecast of 6.1%
Allen Sandeep, head of research at Naeem Holding, told Asharq Business that higher interest costs and returns on Egyptian debt instruments are the reason behind these expectations. Egypt had expected to reduce the total budget deficit in the current FY to 6.1% from 6.2% in the previous FY 2021/2022 and from 6.8% in FY 2020/2021. (Asharq Bloomberg)
Egypt taps private firms and long-delayed museum to revitalise tourism
Egypt, home to ancient pyramids and Red Sea resorts, aims to boost tourism by up to 30% annually over the next five years, bringing in private firms to operate sites and inaugurating a huge museum around the end of 2023, its tourism minister said. Tourism is a crucial source of foreign currency and jobs for Egypt's struggling economy. The sector earned $10.75 billion in the financial year ending in June 2022, up from $4.86 billion the prior year, when it was hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. But it captures a little under 1% of the global tourism market, said Ahmed Issa, a former banker appointed as tourism minister last summer. The budget for more than 2,000 archaeological sites and 41 museums in the 2021/22 financial year was a modest 3.2 billion Egyptian pounds ($170 million at the exchange rate at the time). (Reuters)
Chicken prices in Egypt fell for the first time this week following the government's import of more than 100,000 tonnes of frozen chicken from Brazil
The imported chicken went on sale early last week at outlets operated by the Ministry of Supply and the armed forces, which sell food at discounted rates to low-income Egyptians, and at chain hypermarkets. Demand for the frozen chicken, which costs about 35 per cent less than fresh, locally raised poultry, was high, especially because recent price increases have made beef and chicken unaffordable for many. “We laid out the chicken in the market’s fridges on Thursday; by Saturday, there wasn’t one left and we had to restock,” Mohamed Omar, a worker at a hypermarket in Cairo’s Maadi district, told The National. By Monday morning, sellers of local birds had lowered their prices by about 10 Egyptian pounds. Chicken prices have increased by a larger percentage than other food items. Last year, a shortage of feed created by government import restrictions led many producers to quit the industry, resulting in a drop in supply that in turn raised prices. Poultry farmers have warned for some time that the industry is on the verge of collapse and have repeatedly asked the government to step in and subsidise corn and soybeans, the two main components of chicken feed. (National News)
Egypt plans to reduce custom by 70% on cars for expats
Salem said that the most important amendments are the reduction of the customs tax value of the refunded deposit by about 70 percent for cars of Egyptians abroad. He added that Egyptian expats will pay only 30 percent of the customs tax value in a deposit in foreign currency, which they will recover after five years. The deputy of the Parliament’s Plan and Budget Committee added that the refund of the deposit will be in US dollars, which is the same currency as the deposit. The period for importing cars has been extended to five years, instead of one year, and the ban on resale of cars of Egyptians abroad has been abolished, in return for a deposit in US dollar of the value of customs after applying the exemption, to be refunded after five years, he added. Amendments also included extending the payment or registration period from three months to six months and lifting the ban on resale. (Egypt Independent)
Concert in Hatshepsut Temple raises hotel occupancy to 100%
Concert organized earlier in February at the Temple of Hatshepsut has raised hotel occupancy rates in Luxor to 100 percent, including one star hotels while accommodation prices rose by 30 percent due to high demand, the Cultural Tourism Marketing Committee announced Tuesday. The concert was organized by a company specialized in social media marketing. The Cultural Tourism Marketing Committee is adopting a strategy based on organizing artistic events in Luxor, Mohamed Othman, head of the Cultural Tourism Marketing Committee, said, explaining that the ancient Egyptian civilization was the cradle of music, art and architecture. (Egypt Independent)
Fawry, BOTIM cooperate to enable international money transfers for Egyptian expats in UAE
The leading Egypt-based e-payment company Fawry has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Emirati calling app BOTIM to offer residents in the UAE and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries money transfer and invoice payment services via BOTIM app, according to an emailed press release on February 27th. As per the MoU, users in Egypt will be able to withdraw money transferred from users in the UAE via BOTIM app powered by Payby and Fawry payment channels across the country. (Arab Fiannce)
valU, a subsidiary of EFG Hermes Holding, has joined forces with Sixyards Sports & Event Management (Sixyards) and LaLiga Camp Egypt to provide financing solutions for talented young footballers
As per the partnership, parents of young footballers seeking to participate in the Sixyards-backed LaLiga Camp Egypt will be offered valU’s convenient financial solutions. The LaLiga Camp, set to take place from April 21st to April 26th in Hurghada, is the first-of-its-kind in Egypt camp that targets young, talented beginner- and advanced-level footballers between the ages of 9 and 16. This partnership comes as part of valU’s strategy to support youth and emerging talents in Egypt. (Arab Finance)
Taly has introduced its full-fledged ecosystem for digital payments and collection solutions in Egypt
The newly launched solutions will support banks, corporates, merchants, fintech, and consumers through a seamless ecosystem, backed by one of the largest on-soil infrastructures in the MENA region. The impacts of the comprehensive ecosystem will be consistent with the growing demand for digital transformation by banks, corporates, and the entire business community. The launch comes in line with the objectives of the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) strategy towards turning into a cashless economy and Egypt Vision 2030. (Arab Finance)
Sale of late Egyptian President Sadat's passport in Texas sparks outrage among family
The family of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat has called on authorities to investigate the sale of the leader's passport at a US auction house, arguing that the travel document is part of the nation's heritage. Sadat's diplomatic passport was sold on February 22 for $47,500 by Dallas, Texas-based Heritage Auctions, according to its website. Karim Sadat, the president's grandson who is also a member of parliament, said that selling his grandfather's passport is "an insult that we, as a family and as representatives of the Egyptian people who love the late president, will not accept," reported the state-owned Ahram newspaper. The lawmaker told an Egyptian TV talk show host on Saturday that he expects the foreign ministry to investigate the incident. Many have wondered how the passport made its way to the auction house.Sadat said that, as far as he knows, the president's wife handed her husband's belongings to the Library of Alexandria in northern Egypt after he died. But Ahmed Zayed, the library's director, told the same talk show host on Saturday that the passport was not among the belongings. (CNN)
Egypt's Pope Tawadros II tackles the church's social role with EU counter-terrorism coordinator
One of the most prominent features of the social role of the church is building schools from which many Egyptian figures graduated and took a leading role in society, the pope told his guest. He added that since 2013 Egypt has been focusing on two main causes: the elimination of terrorism, which was declared by the president two days ago in Sinai; and addressing poverty and achieving growth to build new Egypt, he added. Egypt has taken a major step in the second cause, he noted, citing the establishment of the New Administrative Capital and ongoing national mega projects. The pope said Egypt relies on youth who represent a large portion of the country's population, adding that "we have a youth bishopric in the church, and we offer our youth many programmes and meetings. "The pope urged providing good education for youth to discourage them against regular and irregular migration, saying the state is working on providing job opportunities in the new projects. (Al Ahram)