Cabinet Confirms New Regulations to Improve Private Sector

The Minister's Spokesman, Nader Saad said: The private work law and its executive regulations are a qualitative leap in the history of civil work in Egypt.

Saad stated that the approval of such law marks the beginning of the implementation of the law that combines a full response to the constitutional entitlement and Egypt's commitment to its international obligations, besides the growing national need for the role of the private sector in promoting opportunities for an adequate life.

Saad continued: Decent life could be achieved through building a strong and sustainable partnership between the state and the private sector, allowing both of them to achieve their goals in a framework of transparency and respect for the principles and values of human rights.

Saad added that the provisions of the law and its executive regulations reflect the state's commitment in supporting the private sector by enhancing their organizational and financial capabilities and allowing it to work in various activities, in addition to granting it many advantages and exemptions that enable it to carry out its role to achieve its goals.

The law also reflects the Egyptian state’s encouragement of the work of foreign non-governmental organizations on its territory, as it opens the door for them to be present in the local reality and supports them with facilities and guarantees that provide them with an environment conducive to the effective and rapid completion of their work in a framework of transparency.

The spokesman pointed out that the law and its executive regulations were prepared based on the discussions that took place during the community dialogue, launched by the government with various stakeholders, about best practices in this field in several countries, with the participation of local and foreign NGOs, jurists and the National Council for Human Rights.

The community dialogue also included a public discussion through the media and social media platforms, which revealed the main trends prevailing in the Egyptian public opinion regarding the organization of civil work.

The spokesperson explained that contrary to the previous law that was cancelled (No. 70 of 2017), the new law and its executive regulations removed all obstacles to civil work and provided many facilities for it to enable it to freely carry out its activities following the standards outlined in international covenants, foremost of which is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Covenant International Civil and Political Rights.

He added that they guarantee citizens the right to form associations and civil institutions upon notification while ensuring that they freely exercise their activities and that administrative entities are not allowed to interfere in their affairs, dissolve them, or dissolve their boards of directors without a court verdict.

He stated that, to ensure the sustainability of the current civil activities, and that no interruption occurs to the entities addressed with its provisions, including foreign organizations, the law and its executive regulations allowed everyone to reconcile situations within a year from the date of implementation of its executive regulations, according to simple procedures that match his general philosophy.

In regards to the work of foreign non-governmental organizations specifically, Saad explained that the executive regulations specified in detail the procedural framework that foreign non-governmental organizations wishing to work in Egypt must follow to obtain permission to do so.

The law and its executive regulations emphasized the keenness of the law and its executive regulations to facilitate financial dealings for NGOs in a way that keeps pace with their activities and facilitates them to implement their purposes.

The law and its executive regulations reduced the time required to obtain the approval of the administration body to receive grants from foreign organizations or organizations operating abroad from 90 days to 60 days so that the management body’s failure can respond to the civil society after the expiration of that period is  approved.

The law and its executive regulations also provide a source of financial aid through the establishment of a fund to support projects of associations and civil institutions; it creates a central unit under the Ministry of Social Solidarity, which has the guarantor capabilities to build a fruitful and lasting partnership between the government and the private sector, with its various components.

He also stated that to encourage the sustainability of civil work, the cases of dissolution of civil societies and institutions are limited to the narrowest scope, without the administrative body having a decision on it, as the civil society is not dissolved except by a decision of the General Assembly, or by a court ruling. It was also free of custodial penalties and replaced the imposition of financial penalties (fines) for violating its provisions.

He concluded his statements by stressing that the process of preparing the law and its executive regulations combined three features that guarantee the right to form associations, which are the presence of a strong political will to promote civil work and the need to overcome any obstacles that prevent it from fulfilling its desired role, and an immediate response from the government side to direct the President of the Republic to amend the repealed Law No. 70 of 2017 and to avoid any criticism.