92. Egypt has enacted specific PPP legislation providing clear and significant legal investment protection, in line with internationally recognised standards, and has established a central PPP unit.
93. Egypt has a long-standing tradition of concessions, starting with the Suez Canal in the 19th century, which was further developed through the country's concession legislation of 1947 (Law No. 129 of 1947; revised in 1958) that still exists today. By derogation to the 1947 concession law, sector-specific laws were enacted in the late 1990s for electricity, airports, specialised ports, and the railway and roads sectors, allowing more flexibility in the drafting of related concession agreements. In light of a growing government interest in pursuing infrastructure PPPs, the traditional concessions model was abandoned in recent years in favour of a PPP policy. A PPP programme was initiated in 2006, and called for comprehensive legislation to govern and regulate different PPP schemes. A PPP law was enacted in 2010.
94. The 2010 PPP law has yet to significantly increase PPP investment. Instability since 2011 has delayed projects, but there is currently a renewed emphasis on the role of PPPs, confirmed by the Minister of Finance in March 2014. The PPP Central Unit role in preparing a portfolio of new projects, and conducting pre-feasibility studies for projects which will be brought to the PPP Supreme Committee for approval, has also recently been confirmed.