Egypt's Ministry of Industry is considering a new 'Qeema' Certificate system that would link government incentives for industrial firms to their performance, aiming to deepen local manufacturing and improve the effectiveness of Egypt's product preference policy.
Egypt's Ministry of Industry is evaluating the introduction of a 'Qeema' Certificate, a new industrial assessment mechanism designed to connect government incentives and benefits to the performance ratings of industrial establishments. The initiative was announced by Minister of Industry Khaled Hashem, who chaired the first meeting of the reconstituted Egyptian Industrial Product Preference Committee.
The move follows Prime Minister's Decision No. 2286/2026 and is part of the implementation of Law No. 5/2015, which prioritises Egyptian products in government contracts. The ministry aims to overhaul the current preference system to make it more effective, transparent, and measurable, aligning with national objectives to deepen local manufacturing and increase domestic value added.
New Assessment Framework to Address Implementation Challenges
Minister Hashem highlighted that the practical application of the Egyptian product preference law has faced obstacles, particularly in measuring local content and integrating relevant authorities with government procurement systems. To address these issues, the ministry plans to review and update legislative and executive frameworks, potentially introducing regulatory amendments to strengthen enforcement and oversight.
The committee's new structure will focus on regular operations and reinforce the role of its technical secretariat, which will be led by a representative from the Federation of Egyptian Industries. An integrated information system is also planned, featuring a unified, regularly updated database covering industrial products, establishments, and local-content certificates. This database will be electronically linked to government procurement systems, enabling faster verification of compliance and more accurate data for policy decisions.
'Qeema' Certificate to Incentivise Local Content and Industrial Upgrading
The proposed 'Qeema' Certificate would introduce a graded assessment framework, with industrial establishments receiving scores that determine their eligibility for government incentives and benefits. The system is intended to encourage companies to increase local content, deepen manufacturing processes, develop local suppliers, and invest in technology and R&D.
Unlike the current approach, which focuses on meeting minimum local-content thresholds, the new mechanism would reward broader contributions to industrial development. The ministry's study includes proposals for improved measurement and incentive mechanisms, as well as a method for calculating adjusted evaluation prices in government tenders based on an establishment's 'Qeema' score. This would allow the economic value added by local manufacturing to be factored into bid evaluations.
Key performance indicators for the system will include the volume of government purchases of Egyptian industrial products, compliance rates, and changes in local-content and value-added ratios. The ministry will monitor implementation challenges and introduce corrective measures as needed, with the ultimate goal of making the preference system's impact on Egyptian industry measurable and meaningful.
The next steps will involve finalising the design of the 'Qeema' Certificate framework, issuing decisions to reconstitute the technical secretariat, and developing the integrated information system. The ministry's approach is positioned as a model for linking industrial policy incentives to measurable performance outcomes in Egypt's manufacturing sector.
