Egypt

Operating a business

Setting up a company

Legal business entities

Different types of companies	Number of partners/shareholders	Maximum and/or minimum capital	Liabilities	Registration fees
The Limited Liability company.	Minimum 2 partners and maximum 50 partners.	Minimum 50,000 EGP, fully paid up when formed.	Their responsibility is limited to their contribution amount.	They vary depending on the company type.
Joint Stock Company is a public limited company (Incorporated).	Minimum 2 partners.	250,000 EGP of which half is fully paid up when formed. 500,000 EGP in case of initial public offering. (1/4 fully paid up)	Their responsibility is limited to the contribution amount.	They vary depending on the company type.
General Partnership.	Minimum 2 partners.	No minimum capital.	Their responsibility is joint and several and unlimited.	They vary depending on the company type.
Limited Partnership.	Minimum 3 partners	Minimum 250,000 EGP.	The responsibility of active partners is unlimited. Responsibility of sleeping partners is limited to their investment amount.	They vary depending on the company type.

Business setup procedures: Statutes must be laid down in a deed executed and authenticated by a notary. Registration, as well as the submission of statutes must be done in the Trade Register. The relevant register is the one in which the company's headquarters is located. It must be published in a journal of legal notices and a copy of the registration deed must be sent to General Authority for Investment - (GAFI) at Cairo. The sales offices and the branches of foreign companies must also be registered on the special Register provided for this purpose.
The competent organization: GAFI has a role in guiding and promoting foreign and Egyptian investments. It helps the investors in their administrative steps. GAFI has created a one-stop shop counter and the formalities for setting up a company are done in this counter. The One-stop Shop counter thus provides useful documents on law no. 8 of 1997 for encouraging investments, guarantees, exemptions, company creation procedure, the different zones with special statutes to the investors. For speeding up the setting up process, GAFI is authorized to grant temporary licenses for starting the project. The ITIDA (Information Technology Industry Development Agency) was established by law no. 15 of 2004. It is attached to the Ministry of Information Technology and Communication. ITIDA guides investors for executing their projects with a single counter which helps them with various relevant administrative authorities. The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) which comes under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has been given charge since 2006 to develop and facilitate industrial establishments. In connection with the governing bodies the IDA recovers, prepares and puts up for sale lands for developing industrial zones by foreign and Egyptian promoters. The State develops the road network and other networks for these lands. The IDA also offers a one-stop shop for industrial investors to give them information on the available lands and help them get the permits for industrial operations.

Working conditions

Legal weekly duration: Work hours is 8 hours per day, 6 days per week with a maximum of 48 hours per week.
Retirement age: 60 years.
Working contracts: The work contracts are governed, in the order of importance, by the legal provisions, collective agreement and individual negotiation. The two types of contract frequently used are the limited duration contract and the open-ended contract. There is also the temporary work contract which is used with the purpose of giving the employee a well-specified assignment. There is no maximum duration. The occasional work contract exists in the case of a specific assignment and its duration cannot exceed 6 months. The seasonal work contract highly used in the tourism sector is concluded for a work which is required to be repeated every year at around the same fixed date. This type of contract cannot be renewed. Dismissal / layoff criteria are also very rigid compared to the employment conditions which are very flexible.

Cost of labor

Minimum wage

176 EGP

Average wage

The average Egyptian salary is about 100 EUR.

Social contributions

Social security contributions paid by employers: For salaries between 0 and 750 EGP: 26%

For salaries between 751 EGP and 1250 EGP: 24%
Social security contributions paid by employees: For salaries between 0 and 750 EGP:14%

For salaries between 751 EGP and 1250 EGP: 11%

Social partners

Bargaining power: There are 23 trade unions (labor unions) which are represented by the (ETUF : Egyptian Trade Union Federation).
Unions: Egyptian Trade Union Federation
Unionization rate: Union membership is around 20%.
Labor regulation bodies