Egypt’s Private Sector Sees Surge in Foreign Work Licenses
In a stunning development, Egypt experienced a whopping 30.2 percent increase in the number of foreigners acquiring work licenses in 2023 within its private and investment sector.
According to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the total count of foreign nationals granted licenses soared to 17,357 individuals, a significant jump from the previous year’s 13,331.
Of these permits, a remarkable 7,973 were issued for the first time in 2023, making up a substantial portion of the total influx at 45.9 percent.
The largest representation came from expatriates from non-Arab Asian countries, totaling 6,275 individuals or 36.2 percent, closely followed by expats from European countries at 5,975 individuals or 34.4 percent.
Arab countries accounted for 20.1 percent of the licenses, with 3,487 foreigners, while the Americas contributed 4.5 percent, totaling 779 foreigners.
The Ministry of Manpower took the lead in issuing 46.8 percent of the licenses for work in the private sector and investment, releasing a total of 8,122 work permits in Egypt in 2023.
Following closely behind were investment offices at 35.9 percent, corporate businesses at 12.9 percent, and petroleum firms at 4.4 percent of the total licenses granted to foreigners for work in these industries in 2023.
Egypt’s new economic trajectory, focused on structural reforms to boost the private sector for growth and investment attraction, has started to yield positive results. The country’s finance minister, Mohamed Maait, stated that despite the challenges of global and regional economic crises, Egypt has exceeded budget estimates and targets over the past nine months of the fiscal year 2023-2024, as reported by Egyptian daily Al-Ahram.
Minister Maait emphasized that this success underscores international recognition of Egypt’s economy for achieving exceptional performance metrics.