On Environment
Egypt’s government is committed to development and economic liberalization – a trend which has gathered pace since the appointment of Premier Dr. Ahmed Nazif (a former Minister for Communications and Information Technology), alongside a group of young and business orientated ministers in 2004.
Political stability is one asset that enables the country to attract direct foreign investment and boosts economic performance. Egypt is a republic with a bicameral legislative system consisting of the “People’s Assembly” or “Majlis al-Sha’b”. Egypt is one of the most secure and stable countries in Africa and the Middle East, as indicated by the McKinsey Global Institute location cost-attractiveness index, which ranks Egypt as 5th among the most attractive business process outsourcing locations. There is a strong association between industry and government, who partner to create strategic initiatives and grow international business process outsourcing companies, while a dedicated body – ITIDA – is focused on attracting and supporting the set up of global talent and infrastructure.
Government Support
Egypt’s political constancy and governmental support directly contributes to economic stability, helping the country’s business process outsourcing industry to grow and develop. As a location for global outsourcing, Egypt is fast expanding; delivering a safe, modern and open business environment that is conducive to the business process outsourcing market.
Egypt is undergoing an unprecedented phase of development, which is largely attributed to sound policies, monetary reforms and global partnerships. In order to attract direct foreign investment, various packages of incentives and subsidies are offered, for which Egypt and its outsourcing partners enjoy key advantages.
In order to increase Egypt’s attractiveness in the commercial environment, the government has introduced anti-trust and a unified tax law reducing software piracy, tariffs on ICT imports, and addressing many of the legislative, trade, and non-trade barriers to build a strong ICT industry. Egypt’s government also offers tax exemption to companies investing in its infrastructure.
These steps are coupled with financial sector reports, which are being brought in line with international standards. In order to aid IT businesses on the ground level, the minimum capital requirement to start a business has been cut from 50,000 Egyptian Pounds to just 1,000. In 2007, 27 Egyptian companies had CMM or CMMi certification, with several having achieved level 5, the highest level of certification; ensuring quality output.
Information security
Since the early 2000s, Egypt’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has been approving deals with IT vendors to provide software for government and educational use and importing software for use in schools and in government offices. Despite the fact that these sectors make up less than 15% of the PC market, these efforts have had an impact on national software piracy rates. According to the BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study for 2009, Egypt’s piracy rating is now 59%, well below other BPO locations such as India, Morocco, the Philippines and Bulgaria. The ranking has improved continuously from 69% in 2003 to 59% in 2009 despite the fact that the number of internet users has rapidly increased from 7.4 million in 2007 to 17.433 million users in 2009.