New Ministerial Committee to Develo

The Prime Minister issued decree No. 317 of 2013 forming a ministerial committee to develop the golden triangle (Safaga – El Kosseir – Qena) for mineral extraction (the “Decree”).[1] The Committee is headed by the Minister of Industry, and comprises the Ministers of Defense, Petroleum, Housing, the Governors of Qena, Red Sea, and Sohag, as well as the Director of the National Center for Land Use Planning. The Decree states that the Committee shall be responsible for preparing a general outline of the Golden Triangle including its potential and investment opportunities, to provide a view of the legal and institutional framework needed for its management, developing an industrial complex therein, upgrading the Safaga Port, and the infrastructure in the area.

The Importance of the Decree

The Decree looks at first to be merely forming yet another committee that will meet and study but without providing anything new. However, this Decree is important in that it shows the Government’s awareness of the strong comparative advantage that Egypt has in the extraction industry, and that the area described as “Golden Triangle” represents one of the major sources of wealth in Egypt. However, the exploitation of Egypt’s extractive resources in the right manner will not occur as a result of the formation of a Committee or the drawing of an investment map because the real bottleneck lies in the absence of an adequate legal and legislative framework which goes along with international best practice and which can provide the correct balance between safeguarding the country and the national economy’s interests while providing a secure and stable investment environment. What the country needs right now is this new legal environment.   [1] Prime Minister’s Decree No. 317/2013 forming a Ministerial Committee to Develop the Golden Triangle for Mineral Extraction, Official Gazette, Issue No. 13 (a), 1 April 2013.