Authors: R.A. Shamraev, T.A. Kurbatova, Yu.A. Lindre, A.G. Ignatiev.
The Arab Republic of Egypt is one of the most developed countries in the region in terms of e-governance. In 2022, the number of Internet users in Egypt will reach 75.66 million, which is 71.9% of the total population. The country has 33 digital government platforms, 11 foreign-owned platforms (including IGOs), and Egypt ranked 103rd in the 2022 global e-government survey.
In 2016, Egypt's Ministry of Communications (MCIT) launched Egypt Vision 2030, a national strategy to transition to a digital society. The strategy's goals include transitioning to e-government, creating a single portal for government services, digitizing the judiciary, and launching an e-court platform, a digital registry of court cases, and a library of regulations.
Key factors for the development of cooperation with Egypt in the ICT sector:
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Establishment of a free zone for communications and information technology in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone)
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Regional leadership in the production and export of fiber optic cables
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Contribution of IT sector to GDP - 7.7 percent by 2030 (compared to 3.4 percent in 2022)
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Number of mobile phone towers - 45,000 by 2030 (up from 31,000 in 2023)
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Number of IT students - 1 million by 2030 (compared to 500,000 in 2023)
Smart Village and ITIDA's Acceleration Activities
Following the establishment of one of Egypt's first techno-poles - Smart Village in West Cairo - in 2001, the country's IT sector grew by 10 percent and 50,000 additional jobs were created. Today, Smart Village is one of the most advanced business parks in the world. The park is home to more than 95 companies employing 12,000 people. The 300-hectare site is home to multinational and local telecommunications and information technology companies, financial institutions and banks, and state-owned companies related to innovation, in particular the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA).
In addition to its role in regulating electronic transactions (for more details, see the section on "Specifics of e-commerce legislation"), the agency also acts as an accelerator for startups, providing them with mentoring, office space, and seed capital. As of 2024, ITIDA has supported more than 500 teams and 1,457 entrepreneurs. Another area of the agency's work is the Export-IT program, which was launched in 2010. It helps Egyptian companies increase exports of IT products and services through direct financial support. Export-IT ITIDA has supported more than 250 local companies to the tune of nearly 549 million Egyptian pounds.
Agricultural Technologies Development in Egypt
FAO's agricultural digitization programme has been implemented in Egypt since 2019, which has significantly improved the performance of the sector. The results of the program can also be seen on Russian counters.
Digital technologies have made it possible to:
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provide farmers with information to improve crop and livestock management;
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improve food security by reducing production costs and waste;
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increase crop yields by quickly obtaining accurate data to calculate production indicators such as daily irrigation and fertilizer requirements.
Egypt is also actively pursuing the Internetization of villages and hamlets, further contributing to the development of the industry. Specifically, in April 2021, the government launched a $35 billion project to install a fiber optic network in rural areas. The first phase will connect 1,300 villages by 2021, with the ultimate goal of connecting more than 4,500 villages or more than 60 million Egyptians.
Other successful cases of digitization in Egyptian agriculture include the introduction of precision farming technology (using drones and sensors), the digitization of the grain market, and the introduction of mobile farm assistants.
Digital Medicine in Egypt
In favor of the serious investment prospects of the Egyptian medtech industry, statistics show that the Egyptian digital health market is expected to grow to $2.56 billion by 2030 - more than four times the 2022 figures ($0.59 billion).
The main government regulators are the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Health Facilities, and the Central Bank of Egypt. These institutions not only monitor, but also encourage the use of digital health technologies.
The Egyptian government has approved the National Health Insurance Scheme. However, neither the government nor private health insurers reimburse significant amounts for digital health services. As a result, the field remains predominantly commercial, with patients paying for most services.
Examples of successful technologies: telemedicine; electronic medical records; mobile medical applications.
The market includes both large Western players (Siemens, Phillips, General Electric) and local companies (Shezlong, Vezeeta, D-Kimia, Chefa).
Data Protection and Financial Security System in Egypt
The key law in Egypt's data protection regime is Law No. 175 of 2018 on Combating Cybercrime. The Egyptian Law on Combating Cybercrime and Information Technology Offenses (No. 175 of 2018) forms the basis of Egypt's cybercrime legislation. It establishes penalties for unauthorized access, data breaches, and other forms of cybercrime.
Since 2014, Egypt has had a Supreme Council for Cybersecurity (SCC), which reports to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and is headed by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology. And in 2017, the SCC launched the National Cybersecurity Strategy, which aims to comprehensively protect the communications and information infrastructure to provide a secure environment for the various sectors that provide integrated electronic services. In addition, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) established an industry center to respond to computer emergencies in order to strengthen security in the financial sector. The CBE also regularly publishes the Financial Cybersecurity Framework to maintain the working environment and infrastructure for the protection of data and information.
Legislative Features of Electronic Commerce Regulation
Electronic contracts and signatures in Egypt are regulated by the Electronic Signatures Law No. 15 of 2004 and Government Decree No. 109 of 2005. This LSI announced the establishment of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency 'ITIDA', which is responsible for all matters related to electronic contractual relations in Egypt, including
- Issuing and renewing licenses required for the provision of electronic signature services and other activities in the field of electronic transactions and the IT industry in accordance with the laws and regulations governing them.
- Establishing electronic signature standards/criteria to control the technical characteristics of electronic signatures.
- Receiving complaints related to electronic signatures, electronic transactions and IT activities; taking necessary measures in this regard[1].
The Law provides for the application of the same rules for tangible documents and signatures to electronic forms of such documents and signatures, as Article 14 provides that "In civil, commercial and administrative transactions, electronic signatures shall have the same conclusive effect as signatures in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Evidence in Civil and Commercial Matters...". The same has been provided in Article 15 with regard to an electronic letter and electronic communications having the same conclusive force as written, official and unofficial communications, taking into account that the Law and its implementing regulations have defined the requirements that must be met by an electronic signature, electronic letter and electronic communications in order to have conclusive force for evidence as follows:
Pursuant to Article 18, electronic signatures, electronic writings and electronically written communications shall comply with the following requirements:
1. The digital signature is intended only for the signatory.
2. The signatory has sole control over the electronic medium.
3. Detectability of any alteration or substitution of the data of the electronically written communication or electronic signature.
In addition, the following technical controls shall be implemented in accordance with Article 8 of the Implementing Regulation:
a) Determination of the time and date of creation of an e-mail, official or unofficial electronic documents must be technically accessible. Such accessibility shall be provided by an independent electronic storage system that is not under the control of the originator of the e-mail or these documents or of any party interested in them.
b) Determination of the source of creation of electronic written, official or unofficial electronic documents, as well as the degree of control of their creator over that source and the media used in their creation, should be technically accessible.
c) When electronic written, official or unofficial electronic documents are created and issued, in whole or in part, without human intervention, their authenticity should be established as soon as the time and date of their creation can be determined and when such written or unofficial documents have not been tampered with.
Taxation Features
Egypt offers a relatively favorable tax environment for IT exporters. Companies must register with the Egyptian Tax Authority to obtain an identification number and to comply with tax obligations, including VAT and corporate taxes.
The standard VAT rate in Egypt is 14 percent. Non-resident companies providing services to customers in Egypt must comply with the procedures issued by the Ministry of Finance's VAT Guidelines in March 2023 (Ministerial Decree No. 160 of 2023), as they have a direct impact on the services companies export to Egypt[2].
The corporate tax rate for ordinary companies is 22.5% of the company's taxable income,[3] but the tax rate may vary for individual industries. The maximum personal tax rate is 25%. Indirect taxes may range from 10 to 50 percent for goods and 5 to 10 percent for services.
Trademark registration peculiarities
Trademark counterfeiting, copyright piracy and patent infringement continue to be serious problems in Egypt.
The legal protection and use of trademarks in Egypt is governed by Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (Book Four) (as amended by Law No. 26 of 2015 and Law No. 144 of 2019) (Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (Book Four) (as amended by Law No. 26 of 2015 and Law No. 144 of 2019)), which provides for the protection of trademarks, trade names and geographical indications.
Once an exporting company files a trademark application with the relevant trademark office and pays the official fees associated with the application to the trademark examiners of the Internal Trade Development Authority (ITDA), the examination process takes place at two levels:
1) Formal Trademark Examinations - Examinations that address the legal, formal or documentary aspects of trademark filing requirements;
2) substantive trademark examinations, which are conducted by experts from the ITDA Trademark Department.
Obtaining a trademark registration certificate takes from one year to one and a half years. The validity of a trademark is 10 years from the date of filing, which means that the trademark owner does not have to wait until the trademark is registered in Egypt to obtain protection. This protection begins immediately upon filing the trademark application.
The total official fee for trademark registration in Egypt is about $26. ; Meanwhile, professional fees for trademark registration in Egypt range from US$160 to US$1,500. ;
Russia and Egypt: bilateral relations
Partnership relations between Russia and Egypt date back to the mid-20th century. Trade relations between the two countries deteriorated in the 1990s, but at the beginning of the new century economic ties expanded steadily. In total, more than 400 Russian companies have been established in Egypt. The extensive legal framework between the countries covers the avoidance of double taxation, protection of capital investments, scientific and technical cooperation, the establishment of a Russian industrial zone in Egypt, etc.
There is a joint Russian-Egyptian commission for trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation and the Russian-Egyptian business council. In 2023, Russian-Egyptian trade turnover increased by 16.4% compared to 2022 and amounted to $7.1 billion.
The Russian Export Center (REC) is implementing a program to promote domestic products in foreign markets, including Egypt.
[1] https://youssrysaleh.com/ru/2017/12/22/intellectual-property-in-egypt-a-brief-overview/
[3] https://tradingeconomics.com/egypt/corporate-tax-rate
