Al-Ahram Weekly | 1952 - 2002 | Political economy of the revolution

		18 - 24 July 2002 Issue No. 595 Special	Current issue Previous issue Site map
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Political economy of the revolution
By Gamal Essam El-Din

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Clockwise from top left: The military operation room during the October War with Sadat, El-Gamasi, Mubarak and top army generals; President Mubarak raising the flag in liberated Sinai; Anwar El-Sadat signing the Camp David treaty with Carter and Begin; Sadat assassinated during a military parade; Mubarak meets with intellectuals released from prison after he takes the oath of office; Sadat burns intelligence files and tapes during the Corrective Revolution; Egyptian troops cross the Suez Canal into Sinai during the October War
1952
6 August: Law no. 120, aiming at attracting foreign investment, whereby Egyptians are not allowed to own more than 49 per cent rather than 51 per cent of shares in joint-stock companies.
9 September: First Agrarian Reform law no. 178, limiting maximum land ownership to 200 feddans per person and 300 feddans per family.
2 October: Law no. 213, establishing the Permanent Council for Boosting National Production.
3 December: Laws no. 324 & 325, granting greater custom exemptions on imports of raw materials to encourage the private sector to tap industrial projects.
1953
23 February: Nasser attends the opening ceremony of the giant land reclamation project of Mudiryet El-Tahrir southeast of Alexandria.
2 April: Law no. 156, granting greater facilities to foreign investors in transferring their profits abroad.
3 September: Law no. 430, granting greater tax exemptions for joint-stock companies investing in industrial and land reclamation projects.
5 December: Law no. 598, expropriating the riches and property of 407 royal family members, including 24 royal palaces, 48,000 farms, as well as yachts and banking deposits.
1954
16 January: Law no. 26, granting greater facilities to the private sector in setting up joint-stock companies.
9 February: Laying the foundation stone for the giant Helwan Iron and Steel Factory.
1955
12 February: Law no. 141 establishing the Committee of National Planning in charge of mapping out a five-year economic development plan.
15 August: The first confrontation between the Revolution and Egyptian capitalists, imposing sequestration on the Sugar Company, owned by the country's leading capitalist Ahmed Abboud Pasha.
1956
10 February: Egypt and the Soviet Union sign an agreement for establishing a nuclear reactor in Anshas, Sharqiya.
29 June: The creation of three new ministries for Planning, Industry and Agrarian Reform.
20 July: Britain and the US withdraw their $70 million offer for funding the High Dam project, urging the World Bank not to give Egypt the $200 million loan necessary for funding the construction of the dam.
26 July: Nasser announces the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company.
29 July: Britain, France and the US decide to freeze Egyptian deposits and assets valued at LE128.3 million.
1957
13 January: Law no. 20 establishing the Economic Organisation, acting as a holding company for mixed (state-private) companies and Egyptianised foreign property.
14 &15 January: Laws no. 22, 23 & 24, aiming at liberating Egyptian economy from foreign dominance by turning all banks and insurance companies into 100 per cent Egyptian joint-stock companies and limiting the performance of commercial agencies to Egyptians only.
13 February: Law no. 32, separating public organisations from ministries.
20 March: Law no. 78, establishing the Higher National Planning Council.
13 July: Banking and Credit Law no. 163, empowering the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) to act as Egypt's central bank in order to exercise greater control on banks and transfers of foreign exchange.
1 December: Presidential decree no. 263 announcing the first five-year economic development plan. It was later changed into a three-year industrialisation plan.
1958
5 June: Law no. 55, reducing housing rents by 20 per cent.
27 July: President Nasser inaugurates the Helwan Iron and Steel Plant.
1959
9 January: Law no. 7, regulating the performance of joint-stock companies, affecting the Stock Exchange Market negatively.
12 June: Laws no. 9 & 203, granting the public sector a monopoly over import and export activities.
1960
11 February: Laws no. 39 & 40, nationalising Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt. At the time Banque Misr handled 40 per cent of the activities of commercial banks in Egypt, having at its disposal more than 20 giant companies.
10 July: The official adoption of the first five-year socio-economic development plan at a cost of LE1.697 billion.
19 July: Laws no. 265 & 267, regulating the performance of economic and service authorities.
1 & 2 December: Nationalisation of the two Belgian Electricity Company and Tram Authority and sequestration of other Belgian companies valued at $500 million.
1961
20 March: Presidential decrees no. 249 & 250, establishing Misr and El- Nasr Organisations for investing Banque Misr money into productive projects.
22 June: Law no. 107, granting the public sector a monopoly over the activity of commercial agencies.
18-20 July: Ten laws passed for the complete and partial nationalisation of almost 400 companies, bringing the activity of cotton exporting under government control and abolishing foreign concessions on certain public utilities.
21 July: Law no. 135, banning holding more than one job at the same time. The salaries and bonuses of company board members and chief executives are not to exceed LE5000 per year.
25 July: Second Agrarian Reform Law no. 127, limiting maximum land ownership to 100 feddans per person and 150 feddans per family.
21 October: Imposing sequestration on the property of 167 capitalists.
1962
31 January: Nationalising 252 bakeries, warehouses and rice mills. Establishing the General Organisation for Bakeries and Mills.
1963
15 January: Law no. 15, banning foreign ownership of agricultural land.
4 April: The nationalisation of cotton mills and export institutions. The passing of three laws (no. 39, 40 and 51) for the nationalisation of companies in the contracting, food and chemical production sectors.
28 & 29 April: Laws no. 60 & 61, regulating the performance of economic and service authorities.
15 June-9 August: 13 laws passed to nationalise companies in the field of drugs, contracting, maritime transport, mining, spinning and weaving and engineering industries.
17 October: Law no. 141, increasing the number of workers' representatives in company boards from two to four.
17 November: Complete nationalisation of six agricultural companies.
1964
1-24 March: Laws no. 51, 52 & 137, nationalising 133 companies in the area of foreign trade, contracting and oil.
1965
26 January: American House of Representatives bans selling American wheat to Egypt.
2 July: The Soviet Union supplies Egypt with wheat.
1966
3 January: America resumes its wheat deliveries to Egypt.
10 May: President Nasser entrusts Defence Minister Field Marshal Abdel-Hakim Amer with forming a committee to liquidate feudalism in Egypt.
1969
16 August: Third agrarian reform law no. 50, limiting land ownership to 50 feddans per person.
1971
12 February: Law no. 65 for Investing Arab Capital and Free Zones passed, opening up Egyptian economy to Arab private investment.
1974
20 May: Open-door (infitah) law no. 43, allowing foreign private investment, and providing both Arab and foreign investment with guarantees and privileges, the most important of which is immunity to nationalisation
10-15 June: Three open-door policy laws. Law no. 118, allowing the import of certain goods by private sector companies, abolishing the import and export laws of the 1950s and 60s, thus in effect dismantling state monopoly of foreign trade. Law no. 120, allowing the creation of joint-stock commercial banks. And finally presidential decree no. 1906, allowing Egyptian private sector to engage in commercial agency activities, thus ending public sector monopoly over such activities.

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