Roundtable on Land and Water Management - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theRoundtable on Land and Water Management. Answer: Egypt is one of the most populated Middle Eastern countries in northern Africa. Its economy is one of the best in the northern African region. Egypt has the most developed economy. Egypt's economy is driven by the service sector which dominates at 47%, the agricultural sector is second at 29% and the industrial sector at 24%. Investing in real estates is one of the most promising business that international investors ought to invest in, in Egypt. Since the prices of real estate keep on rising every year, this is the best area to invest in. Political Factors Egyptian politics has been dominated by the military for many years until the 2011 uprising. This politics has always had a lot of animosity. There is animosity toward the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim brotherhood is so far the most organized political party in Egypt. Military influence has been very paramount in Egyptian politics given that a majority of the people see the military as a sign of stability. Mayfield (2014), observes that a Zogby poll which was published in the year 2013 revealed that nearly 94% confidence level. A majority of non-Islamists tend to favor a return to military rule while Islamists (nearly all of them) opposes this idea and this has brought a deep divide politically and religiously. This is what makes Egypt's political environment is hostile and risky for investment given the political turmoil that has been experienced in Egypt during the Arab spring beginning with the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Egypts politics has seriously affected the Egyptia n market. The Egyptian market is currently grossed with serious serious political risks for foreign investors. While these risks can be successfully diversified, especially by integrating available stock into an investment portfolio, it is still important to give political risk serious attention. Inflation rate have soured high, unemployment rate is also high and businesses are also seriously affected. According to Mayfield (2014), the political risk associated with Egypts politics especially the transition brought about a negatively affected the country and brought about disinvestment. Legal Factors The official language in Egypt is Arabic. All documents especially business documents are written in Arabic if they are to have the necessary value expected of them. Expatriates who are not well conversant with the Arabic language can find it difficult to operate in Egypt. It is possible that an agreement can be drafted in another language, however, such an agreement or proposal must be accompanied by an approved official translation in Arabic. Arabic is Egypt's official language and all documents have to be written in this language if they are to have legal value (Shalaby and Dardik 2017) A contract can be written in another language, however it has to be accompanied by an official translation in approved Arabic. This can pose a serious challenge to foreign nationals who would like to operate in Egypt. While making drafts and agreements, the point of references is the 1971 constitution. The prevailing legal system in Egypt is highly influenced by the French law from which it borrows a lot. Sharia laws can also apply in some circumstances to question civil positions. Egypt encourages foreign investors to invest in Egypt. This can be seen from the fact that Egypts Incentive Law clearly recognizes investors. The rights of investors in accommodated by Egyptian policies and law. Investors can solve disputes more amicably through bilateral arrangements. The Egyptian law also allows for the application of UN Commission of Trade Law according to Kleinman and Lin (2017) What Egypt is Doing to Improve Foreign Investment? New Egyptian legislation encourages foreign investments. These new laws have put in place incentives to help attract more foreign investment. (Kleinman and Lin 2017) With these new laws Egypt hopes to come up with an attractive business environment. By this legislation Egypt has set up a conducive business environment to ensure that foreign investors get fair treatment when signing business contracts just as the locals. Foreigners also have equal opportunities just as local investors. According to Kleinman and Lin (2017), provisions in articles 30 of the Egyptian constitution states that foreign investor are exempted from paying fees for documenting the companies as well as stamp taxes. Conclusion Egypt is a booming market for foreign investment following its approximately 4 years of economic stagnation. Culture wise and economically, Egypt stand out as the country that encourages huge foreign investment. This is because it has a bigger population and a stronger economy. Despite the political upheavals, Egypt is secure compared to other nations in the middles east. The only factors that may affect the successful set up of operations may result from language barrier from expatriates not familiar with Arabic and a few cultural influences given that Egypt is an Islam state. Works Cited Gomaa, S.S., 20015. Environmental policy making in Egypt. In Roundtable on Land and Water Management: proceedings, Cairo, 13-15 Dec. 1993. IDRC, Regional Office for North Africa and the Middle East, Cairo, EG. Caiazza, R., 2014. Identifying international market opportunities: the case of Italian companies in Egypt. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 21(4), pp.665-674. Kleinman, G. and Lin, B.B., 2017. Audit regulation in an international setting: Testing the impact of religion, culture, market factors, and legal code on national regulatory efforts. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, 14(1), pp.62-94. Shalaby, S.Y. and Dardik, A., 2017. Comparison of Investment opportunities in Egypt with the United States. In Economic Survey (pp. 127-129). Springer International Publishing. Kleinman, G. and Lin, B.B., 2017. Audit regulation in an international setting: Testing the impact of religion, culture, market factors, and legal code on national regulatory efforts. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, 14(1), pp.62-94. Mayfield, J.B., 2014. Rural politics in Nasser's Egypt: a quest for legitimacy. University of Texas Press.