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New and Highly Relevant Decree Conc

New and Highly Relevant Decree Concerning Unutilized State Assets
On 1 October 2015, the Prime Minister issued a decree forming the Ministerial Committee for the Identification of Unutilised State Assets (the "Decree").[1] The Decree states that the Committee shall identify the unutilised assets owned by ministries, public authorities, governorates, and their subsidiaries, creating a database of the same, and putting forward a plan to exploit those assets in a manner that yields the highest economic returns.
Composition and Role of the Committee
The Committee is chaired by the Prime Minister and is composed by the Ministers of Planning, Finance, Investment, and Local Government. It may, in addition, include others ministers and representatives of public entities. The Committee shall have a technical secretariat headed by the Minister of Planning, which will also include representatives of the Ministries included in the Ministerial Committee as well as of the Government Services Authority and the National Investment Bank. The Decree further determined that the Committee's technical secretariat should conclude its work within six months of its establishment, i.e. by end of March 2016. Whereas it would look like this is yet another bureaucratic ministerial committee, it is in fact a highly important Decree from an economic point of view because identifying and recording such unutilised assets - most of which are likely to be valuable land owned by governorates, ministries and authorities - opens the way for their sale, lease, or other economic utilisation. This should yield significant returns to the State while opening the way for new investments. It will be important to follow up on the plan which shall be proposed by the Committee in six months, in order to know if this Committee will merely identify and record those assets or whether it will actually follow up on their economic utilisation.   [1] Prime Minister Decree No. 2589/2015 forming the Ministerial Committee for the Identification of Unutilised State Assets, Official Gazette, Issue No. 40 (bis), 1 October 2015.
On 1 October 2015, the Prime Minister issued a decree forming the Ministerial Committee for the Identification of Unutilised State Assets (the "Decree").[1] The Decree states that the Committee shall identify the unutilised assets owned by ministries, public authorities, governorates, and their subsidiaries, creating a database of the same, and putting forward a plan to exploit those assets in a manner that yields the highest economic returns.
Composition and Role of the Committee
The Committee is chaired by the Prime Minister and is composed by the Ministers of Planning, Finance, Investment, and Local Government. It may, in addition, include others ministers and representatives of public entities. The Committee shall have a technical secretariat headed by the Minister of Planning, which will also include representatives of the Ministries included in the Ministerial Committee as well as of the Government Services Authority and the National Investment Bank. The Decree further determined that the Committee's technical secretariat should conclude its work within six months of its establishment, i.e. by end of March 2016. Whereas it would look like this is yet another bureaucratic ministerial committee, it is in fact a highly important Decree from an economic point of view because identifying and recording such unutilised assets - most of which are likely to be valuable land owned by governorates, ministries and authorities - opens the way for their sale, lease, or other economic utilisation. This should yield significant returns to the State while opening the way for new investments. It will be important to follow up on the plan which shall be proposed by the Committee in six months, in order to know if this Committee will merely identify and record those assets or whether it will actually follow up on their economic utilisation.   [1] Prime Minister Decree No. 2589/2015 forming the Ministerial Committee for the Identification of Unutilised State Assets, Official Gazette, Issue No. 40 (bis), 1 October 2015.