Mohamed Nasser Law Firm > CAIRO, Egypt > Firm Profile

Mohamed Nasser, Managing Partner, Mohamed Nasser Law Firm

What has changed in the laws in Egypt to encourage foreign investments?

2017 witnessed massive changes in investments laws in Egypt which made investment in Egypt more lucrative and profitable for businesses, multinationals, and investors from all over the world. According to the new regulations, a foreign investor can now, under the name of his company, own real estate such as lands, factories, and buildings. Additional incentives and tax exemptions are now granted for most investment sectors. In addition, the management now can be comprised of 100% foreign professionals without the requirement of having an Egyptian partner or manager on board. As an example, one of my clients is a Dutch agricultural company called Rjik Zwaan, they are the third largest producer of agricultural seeds in the world. Upon the change of the law, and their enablement to buy land, I recommended they buy a big plot of land to use as their experimental greenhouse, where they test new seeds. It has become their hub that serves the GCC and the Middle East.

Which sectors are offered better incentives and tax exemptions?

 All sectors are benefiting from the new law, each with its unique set of terms and conditions, yet there is no industry that has not witnessed a positive change in its laws. As an example, there are tax exemptions for food related industries such as poultry, livestock, and fish up till 10 years. The establishments of malls, residential projects, education such as the establishment of schools and universities, tourism related industries such as hotels and restaurants, power and energy and technology and communications each has its own set of incentives and exemptions, which are a positive step to facilitate investments in these sectors.

Has the Egyptian market witnessed a rise in mergers and acquisitions?

There has been a rise in the number of successful Egyptian startups in addition to the already established businesses, this created a larger number of mergers and acquisitions in the market which also led to further regulations that protect the benefits, stocks, and transition of power between companies. Egypt’s merger and acquisition transaction value have witnessed an outstanding increase of %400 in the first half of 2021, despite the pandemic. This number was from 111 deals totaling more than 4 billion dollars in value, putting Egypt right on top as the most popular country in the Middle East for inbound M&A from foreign investors.

 How can a company benefit from investing in Egypt?

The manpower in Egypt is affordable in comparison with its counterparts in other countries. The new laws facilitated the establishment of companies and even if foreign personnel are needed, their residency and work permits have become a very simple task. There are two free zones as well, that can be of great value to specific industries. As a very small example, one of my clients, a Saudi oil and gas corporation; were seeking to cut labor costs. I recommended they simply relocate only two of their departments, the IT and finance, to be based in Egypt, which eventually saved them millions of dollars.

What are the advantages of the free zones?

Egypt has two special economic zones, the Suez Canal Economic Zone and the Golden Triangle Economic Zone.

Their system includes incentives and guarantees, including a standard personal income tax tariff of 5%.  Characterized by integrated customs management, tax administration, investor dispute resolution unit, project licensing center, in addition to public services for investors, projects established within the economic zones benefit from Egyptian certificates of origin for exporters, allowing them to take advantage of international trade agreements signed with Egypt and access to several foreign markets. Additional privileges, subject to terms and conditions, can be obtained such as the country bearing part of the cost of technical training for employees, a refund of half of the value of land allocated to industrial projects if production begins within two years of the date of delivery of the land, and allocation of free land for some strategic industries.

What is the correct procedure for investors to start a business in Egypt?

Of course after they have decided on the industry they want to venture in, they should get a law firm that would handle their procedures and give them the correct and sound advice on the best way to benefit from exemptions and incentives the laws offer to their industry. The law firm will handle the process starting from the establishment procedures of their company, choosing the appropriate type of company that best suits their needs, due diligence when required for mergers and acquisitions, work permits and residencies for foreign employees, registration of land and other forms of real estate, employee contracts and benefiting from labor law.

Mohamed Nasser, CEO

1) What do you see as the main points that differentiate Mohamed Nasser and partners law firm from your competitors?

• Fast execution of the work required of us in the best way and with high accuracy to the best interest of our customers
• Finding distinctive and unique solutions and implementing them on the ground in all legal work
• Continuous and fast communication with customers, which increases their confidence in us
• The availability of a highly qualified team of lawyers with a that are present 24 hours a day
• Diversity of legal work within the office in all aspects and legal disciplines

2) Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

Mohamed Nasser Office undertakes the expansion of all legal work, but the most important work that will lead to the growth and expansion of Mohamed Nasser Office is all the work of (corporate – arbitration – litigation – real estate– capital market – finance – M&A )

The drive behind that is to make Mohamed Nasser Law Firm one of the best law firms at the local and international level and guarantee that all the clients legal needs are met at our firm without the need to go to another firm .

What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

– Integrating and disseminating legal information in all legal departments of the office, which greatly affects making the right and beneficial decisions on the problems faced by customers

– A delegation of a good number of our lawyers for postgraduate studies specialized in all legal aspects (civil law – arbitration – administrative law – digital banks and cryptocurrencies – real estate finance and credit – financial leasing – commercial law and companies)

Which leads to an increase in the knowledge of the acting team to keep pace with the economic trend of the country and attract customers and investors.

4) Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Technology has widely affected the speed of communication with customers, receiving documents, making meetings, filing, initiating and attending lawsuits through all modern means of communication, and starting the speed of legal study of the subject assigned to us through those means before meeting the client, as well as seeing the laws of other countries, which led to the presentation of my legal services to clients on a wider and faster scale.

5) Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

Indeed, not exclusively, we have given real estate and financial information (about land) to people and companies, which led to an increase in the value of real estate wealth, and also given information and guidance to companies (on the coordination and organization of some businesses), which led to an increase in the financial position of those companies.

Another example Studying the legal status of a company listed on the stock exchange market and giving legal advice that this company statues and strategy is motivating to invest in which leads the client to buy shares and putting his investments in the investments of that company, which subsequently led to huge profits for the client due to the high value of the share stock which was based on our advice.

6) Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

Yes, and always because we must do so even if the customer does not request through follow-up and permanent and continuous guidance, as in many cases the information may not be available to the customer and this is a permanent and continuous duty on our shoulders in order to preserve the interest of customers and their rights.

So subsequently we are always keen to send reports on a monthly basis to all clients of the office of any changes in the laws or amendments that take place in the region so that the client is fully aware of any effects that may occur to his business or any business they might be entering or starting because our firm not only handles customer problems, but is considered a partner in customer entities, as whenever their business succeeds, this is a general indication of the success of our firm in helping the client.

As for the next three years,

Our office is looking forward to expanding and opening offices, branches and legal representatives within the scope of Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait (as an initial stage) and Infact, the procedures for obtaining licenses have started in preparation for opening during this year, and there will be an announced soon.

After that we plan on opening offices, branches and legal representatives within the scope of foreign countries (France and Turkey) as an advanced stage , As we have become the legal consultant to several embassies to serve investors, for example, we have become the legal advisor to the embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, Turkey and Bahrain, and therefore we must establish law firms in these countries to represent their citizens inside Egypt as well as in the countries from which they came or hold their nationality.