Foreigners can wholly own a company in Egypt. Most foreign-invested firms register under Investment Law No. 72 of 2017 to benefit from its facilitation and incentives. Registration is handled by the Investor Service Centers (ISC) of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), and since August 2023 can also be started online on GAFI’s website.
Three things deserve special attention. Foreign company registration, changes of shareholders or managers, and work visas all go through a security review that usually takes about three months. Trading (commercial distribution) and brokerage are restricted sectors. Import businesses must also register on the importers’ register and meet capital requirements. This page is based mainly on the 2025 edition of MOFCOM’s Guide for Outbound Investment and Cooperation: Egypt.
Company types and legal frameworks
You can register under the Companies Law (Law No. 159 of 1981) or the Investment Law, which has an inland regime and a free zone regime. Companies in economic zones fall under the Special Economic Zones Law (Law No. 83 of 2002). Common forms:
| Form | Notes |
|---|---|
| Limited liability company (LLC) | The usual choice for small and medium investors |
| Joint-stock company (JSC) | Suits larger projects or several shareholders |
| Sole proprietorship company | Owned by one natural or legal person |
| Partnership | General or limited partnership |
| Branch | Branch of a foreign company; construction contractors must first become members of the Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors (EFCBC) before GAFI will accept the branch |
| Representative office | Governed by the Commercial Agency Law (Law No. 120 of 1982); cannot trade directly |
The MOFCOM guide does not list a general minimum capital for ordinary companies, but paid-in capital decides how many “investor visa” work permits you can get (tiers of US$35,000, 50,000 and 100,000). See Egypt visas and work permits.
Restricted sectors
- Restricted: commercial distribution, brokerage, aviation, finance, rail operation, natural gas sales and imports of recycled raw materials. Steel, pharmaceuticals, food additives and black sand mining are not formally closed to foreigners, but licences are very hard to obtain.
- Import businesses: after Law No. 7 of 2017 amended the Importers’ Register Law, the minimum capital for import companies is EGP 2 million for an LLC and EGP 5 million for a JSC, with a cash guarantee of EGP 200,000. Law No. 173 of October 2023 removed the requirement for Egyptians to hold at least 51%, allowing foreign wholly owned or majority-owned importers. The MOFCOM guide also mentions at least one year of operation in Egypt and prior-year turnover of at least EGP 5 million; confirm current rules with a lawyer before applying.
- Mining: in exploration and mining joint ventures with the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority, the foreign party may hold no more than 75%, and the Ministry of Defence must approve before a licence is issued.
- Agriculture and land: foreigners can take part through leases or operating arrangements but cannot own agricultural land outright.
- Culture: no wholly foreign-owned companies; an Egyptian partner is required and normally holds the operating licence.
- Sinai: investing in Sinai, or buying a company that owns land there, requires special approval from the Sinai Development Authority.
Registration steps
- Choose the company form and legal framework (Companies Law; Investment Law inland or free zone; Special Economic Zones Law). Regulated sectors need prior approval from the relevant ministry.
- File the registration documents at a GAFI Investor Service Center or apply online through the e-registration module on GAFI’s website. GAFI runs 14 investor service centres nationwide.
- Security review. Companies can usually sign a disclaimer and continue registering, but if the review fails, operations must stop and the registration is cancelled. Until it is cleared, staff cannot get work visas, so it is hard to do real business.
- Commercial registration at the Commercial Registration Office (CRO); you receive the commercial register certificate and GAFI’s “investment guide” booklet.
- Tax registration within four months of starting business; you receive a tax card.
- Open a bank account and register for social insurance.
- Apply for work permits and work visas for foreign staff (see the work permit process).
GAFI’s Investor Services Guide (end of 2018) explains conditions, procedures and fees for each company type; the Chinese embassy’s economic and commercial office publishes a Chinese translation (link).
Golden License
Under Investment Law No. 72 of 2017 (as amended), eligible projects can apply for a Golden License, a single approval issued by Cabinet decision that covers the permits needed to set up and run the project, such as building and operating permits, land allocation and environmental approvals. It is aimed mainly at strategic or national projects meeting the criteria of Cabinet Decree 56 of 2022 (for example exporting at least 50% of output within three years, replacing imports and relying heavily on local labour) and at PPP project companies in utilities and infrastructure (Sadany & Partners, May 2026).
Tax and labour costs
| Item | Rate or rule (as of 2025, MOFCOM guide) |
|---|---|
| Corporate income tax | 22.5% (40.55% for oil and gas exploration and production companies) |
| VAT | 14% |
| Dividend tax | 10%; 5% if the holder owns over 25% and holds for at least two years |
| Branch profit remittance tax | 5% |
| Withholding on interest, royalties and management fees paid to non-residents | Generally 20%, possibly lower under tax treaties (China and Egypt signed a double taxation agreement in 1997) |
| Loss carry-forward | 5 years |
| Social insurance | Employer 18.75%, employee 11% |
| Private-sector minimum wage | EGP 7,000 a month from March 2025 |
The tax year is the calendar year. Corporate income tax returns are due by 1 May or within four months of the end of the financial year; VAT is generally filed monthly. All returns must be filed online, and since 1 January 2022 only e-invoices are accepted for VAT deductions or refunds. Employment contracts must be in Arabic, in three copies, with a probation period of no more than three months.
Free zones, economic zones and the Chinese industrial park
| Type | Key points |
|---|---|
| Free zones (public/private) | Offshore status: no corporate income tax, VAT or import duties, but a fee of 2% of goods value on entry for storage projects and 1% on exit for manufacturing projects; exports normally must be at least 50%. Nine public free zones as of April 2025 |
| Investment zones, technology parks | Run by GAFI; technology parks import operating equipment duty-free |
| Industrial zones | Run by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), with few special incentives; 147 zones as of July 2025 |
| Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) | 455 km², four industrial areas and six ports. Classed as an “A” area, so 50% of investment costs can be deducted from taxable net profit; manufacturers import raw materials duty-free; the zone authority approves work permits |
| Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) | Duty-free exports to the US if products contain 10.5% Israeli content and combined Egyptian and Israeli content exceeds 35% |
China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone
TEDA sits inside the SCZone. Its start-up and expansion areas cover 7.34 km², with 2.86 km² added in July 2025. By the end of 2024 nearly 200 Chinese and foreign companies had moved in, with cumulative investment of over US$3 billion; nearly 100 are Chinese, including Midea, Jushi, XD and Hisense. Land in the expansion area comes with 45-year use rights at US$50/m² for industrial, US$65/m² for logistics and US$100/m² for commercial land; ground-floor factory space rents for US$2.5/m² a month (MOFCOM guide).
Recent Chinese manufacturing and logistics investment
According to the SCZone, the zone attracted more than US$4 billion of Chinese investment over the past three years, and Hong Kong’s Crystal International was considering a US$250–300 million textile factory in the Qantara West industrial zone (Enterprise, July 2025). In April 2026 Egypt’s cabinet said Chinese companies planned to invest about US$2.4 billion, including a logistics and commercial zone of about US$2 billion and an initial US$400 million container terminal at Ain Sokhna port (Arab News, 28 April 2026). Chinese statistics put China’s direct investment stock in Egypt at US$1.419 billion at the end of 2024; Egyptian figures cite over US$8 billion and about 2,800 registered companies. The two use different methods.
Bank accounts and foreign exchange
- A registered company needs its commercial register certificate, tax card, GAFI investment guide booklet and the signature of a shareholder or the chairman to open an account.
- Foreign-invested companies can hold US dollar, euro and other foreign currency accounts. Banque Misr, CIB, HSBC and QNB offer RMB services.
- Profit repatriation is allowed by law but must be backed by genuine transactions, and banks limit the amount and purpose of each conversion as instructed by the central bank. FX shortages worsened from 2022; liquidity improved markedly after the one-off devaluation of the pound in March 2024.
Chamber of commerce and the embassy’s commercial office
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (CCCE) was founded in 2004 under the guidance of the embassy’s economic and commercial office. As of June 2023 it had 165 members and six sector branches (oil, automotive, power, manufacturing, contracting and IT). China State Construction’s Egypt branch holds the presidency, and the chamber publishes an annual report on Egypt’s economy. For other associations, see the Chinese community in Egypt; for population figures, see Chinese population in Africa.
Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt: 14 Bahgat Aly Street, Zamalek, Cairo; email eg@mofcom.gov.cn; website eg.mofcom.gov.cn.
Common pitfalls
- Slow security reviews: the process is not public and often takes more than three months; avoid large commitments until it clears.
- Too few work visas: the 10% quota plus strict checks; refusals sometimes cite position, experience or age.
- Import clearance: cargo information must be pre-registered (ACI) on the Nafeza platform at least 48 hours before arrival or goods are sent back; foreign manufacturers of some consumer goods must first register with GOEIC.
- Construction tenders: clients sometimes negotiate directly, then switch to an open tender, wasting early work. Local bidders up to 15% more expensive can still count as the lowest bid. Civil works over EGP 50,000 require EFCBC registration.
- Labour disputes: layered subcontracting, missing contracts and unpaid wages have caused disputes; sign proper contracts with workers recruited in China.
For crime and police checks, see Egypt safety guide; for an overview, see the Egypt guide for Chinese residents, and for neighbouring countries see North Africa.
References
- Guide for Outbound Investment and Cooperation: Egypt (2025 edition) (MOFCOM / Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, 2025)
- General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) (GAFI official website)
- Golden License Egypt: How To Get Single Approval For Projects (Sadany & Partners via Mondaq, May 2026)
- Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) (SCZONE official website)
- SCZONE kicks off China roadshow to reel in USD investment inflows (Enterprise, 22 July 2025)
- Chinese firms to inject $2.4bn investments into Egypt (Arab News, 28 April 2026)
- Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt (MOFCOM)