(KPIs)

The agriculture sector has numerous Comparative and Competitive Advantages, the most significant of which are as follows:

• Climate: Egypt’s climate allows for extended and additional agricultural seasons, enabling the cultivation of winter crops from November to May, when agricultural production is highly limited in Europe and Northern Asia.
• Geographical location: Egypt is located between Africa and Asia, on the Mediterranean Sea, and in the middle between East and West, which offers an ideal location for exporting agricultural products to all major consumer markets.
• Large local workforce: Egypt has the largest agricultural labor force in the region, benefiting from a large number of skilled workers and competitive wages.
• Digital transformation: The Egyptian government has prioritized automation and the adoption of innovative technologies to support local and international value chains, collaborating with international organizations to achieve these goals.
• The 100,000 Greenhouses Project: Enhancing agricultural production is pivotal to food security, and agricultural authorities are turning to greenhouses to bridge the food gap. This project is the largest of its kind in the Middle East.

The Egyptian government has adopted a new strategy to support the agriculture sector, which includes:

• Launching two initiatives to postpone due installments and exempt defaulters, from which 330,000 farmers have benefited, with total debts amounting to around EGP 8 billion. In addition, the “Bab Rizq” loan from the Agricultural Bank of Egypt was increased to EGP 50,000 instead of EGP 10,000, along with free insurance coverage. This initiative aims to fund poultry, sheep, and goat breeders, as well as others working in the trade of agricultural products.
• The implementation of the “contract farming system”, which guarantees farmers a minimum price (guaranteed price) at which they can sell their crops, ensuring profitability.

• Special Incentives :

Pursuant to Investment Law No. 72 of 2017, certain activities in the agricultural sector are eligible for the special investment incentives provided therein. These incentives take the form of a deduction from net taxable profits equivalent to 50% of the investment costs for Sector A or 30% for Sector B, depending on the geographical location of the investment. In accordance with Decree No. 104 of 2022, the activities eligible for these incentives under Sectors A and B are as follows:

• Activities Eligible for Special Incentives within Sector (A):
  -    Reclamation and cultivation of barren and desert lands, including lands reclamation and equipping of lands with basic facilities that make them suitable for cultivation, and   reclaimed lands cultivation, provided that these lands are designated for reclamation and   cultivation purposes and that the modern methods of irrigation are used in the cultivation process instead of flood irrigation
  -    Breeding all kinds of livestock for the purposes of breeding or dairy production
  -    Breeding of poultry.
• Activities Eligible for Special Incentives Sector (B):
  -    Fish farms, including marine cages, integrated fish farming, and marine hatcheries
  -    Breeding all kinds of poultry, whether it is for the production of breeds, hatchery or for eggs production, fattening, or meat production
  -    Breeding all kinds of livestock for fattening and red meat production.