{"id":45117,"date":"2025-05-11T13:24:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T10:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/?p=45117"},"modified":"2025-05-11T17:36:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T14:36:20","slug":"gafi-announces-hosting-service-exporting-startups-within-its-free-zones-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/2025\/05\/gafi-announces-hosting-service-exporting-startups-within-its-free-zones-for-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0GAFI announces hosting service-exporting startups within its free zones for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Hossam Heiba:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Entrepreneurs receive VIP services at Investor Service Centers free of charge<\/strong><\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Ongoing efforts to enhance the entrepreneurship ecosystem since the establishment of the<\/strong><strong> &#8220;Bedaya&#8221; Center<\/strong><\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>A fast-track system has been allocated to help entrepreneurs establish and operate their companies efficiently.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Hossam Heiba<\/strong>, CEO of the <strong>General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI)<\/strong>, announced that\u2014for the first time\u2014public free zones will be open to hosting the<strong> headquarters of startups operating<\/strong> in the <strong>service sector<\/strong> for export purposes.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">These startups will enjoy the benefits of operating within the<strong> free zones<\/strong>, including simplified procedures and <strong>full customs and tax exemptions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">These statements came during his participation in the opening session of the<strong> RiseUp Summit 2025<\/strong>, held under the title:<strong> \u201cEmpowering Startups: Government-Supported Policies,\u201d<\/strong> and attended b<strong>y Rasha Abdel Aal<\/strong>, Head of the<strong> Egyptian Tax Authority<\/strong>; <strong>Sherif El-Kilany,<\/strong> Deputy <strong>Minister of Finance<\/strong> for Tax Policy; <strong>Dr. Tamer Taha<\/strong>, <strong>Innovation and Entrepreneurship<\/strong> Advisor to the <strong>Minister of Planning and Economic Development and International Cooperation<\/strong>; and<strong> Donia Ghoneim<\/strong>, Vice President of<strong> N Gage Consulting<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The CEO of <strong>GAFI<\/strong> stated that the total available space for administrative and operational headquarters for startups is approximately <strong>9,000 square meters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The authority aims to attract investment from companies focused on <strong>software export<\/strong> and <strong>AI applications<\/strong>, while ensuring the presence of supporting institutions such as consulting, marketing, and legal service providers\u2014thus increasing the success rates of startups in growing and entering<strong> international markets<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Egypt Ventures Company<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Heiba<\/strong> reviewed the authority&#8217;s efforts to improve the <strong>entrepreneurship environment<\/strong>, starting with the establishment of the &#8220;<strong>Bedaya<\/strong>&#8221; Center for <strong>Entrepreneurship<\/strong> and <strong>SME Development 15 years ago<\/strong>, followed by the launch of &#8220;<strong>Egypt Ventures<\/strong>&#8221; in collaboration with the Ministry of I<strong>nternational Cooperation,<\/strong> and then the hosting of the<strong> Permanent Unit for Entrepreneurship and Startups<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong> GAFI<\/strong> also holds membership in the <strong>Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He pointed out that these entities have contributed over the years to coordinating efforts among all stakeholders in the <strong>entrepreneurial ecosystem<\/strong> and creating a unified platform for startups that offers comprehensive support and helps remove any barriers facing this <strong>fast-growing sector. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">These efforts also aim to develop incentives and benefits offered to<strong> entrepreneurs<\/strong> in line with the <strong>sector\u2019s rapid evolution<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\">VIP Service for Entrepreneurs<\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The CEO added that <strong>GAFI<\/strong> has dedicated a fast track for entrepreneurs to establish and operate their companies.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">T<strong>he electronic registration of a one-person company<\/strong> now takes only <strong>two hours<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Entrepreneurs also receive <strong>VIP services at Investor Service Centers free<\/strong> of additional charges.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Heiba<\/strong> highlighted ongoing coordination efforts with the <strong>European Union<\/strong>, the<strong> Kingdom of Saudi Arabia<\/strong>, and the Kingdom of <strong>Morocco<\/strong> to help <strong>Egyptian startups expand<\/strong> into these markets without facing<strong> double taxation or protectionist policies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Support includes <strong>administrative and promotional assistanc<\/strong>e, especially during the early post-entry phases.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">These <strong>partnerships<\/strong> also aim to attract new <strong>investments<\/strong> from those markets.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">On legislative support, <strong>Heiba<\/strong> revealed that the Law on the<strong> Establishment and Regulation<\/strong> of <strong>Financial and Business Zones<\/strong> will be issued this year.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The law aims to<strong> transform Egypt<\/strong> into a regional hub for launching investment funds, <strong>especially venture capital funds<\/strong>, to <strong>mobilize local and foreign funding<\/strong> for<strong> Egyptian startups<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hossam Heiba, CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), announced that\u2014for the first time\u2014public free zones will be open to hosting the headquarters of startups operating in the service sector for export purposes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":45114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"post_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8139],"tags":[8237,4741,8134],"class_list":["post-45117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-riseup","tag-gafi","tag-hossam-heiba","tag-riseup-summit-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}