Egypt Implements Winter Timings for Shops and Restaurants

With the shift in seasons, Egypt has started to apply winter closing times for shops and restaurants from Friday onwards. This decision is in accordance with the Ministerial Resolution #456 of 2020, issued by the Minister of Local Development. The resolution regulates the opening and closing times of various establishments including shops, public restaurants, cafes, workshops, craft businesses, and commercial malls. Assistant Minister of Local Development, Khaled Qassem, clarified the new timings in a recent television interview. According to him, shops and commercial malls will now open daily from 7 am and close by 10 pm. However, the operational hours will extend up to 11 pm during weekends and holidays. As for workshops and craft shops located within residential areas, they are required to maintain working hours from eight in the morning to six in the evening. It is important to note that this schedule does not apply to workshops that are situated on public roads and gas stations. Qassem further mentioned that grocery stores, supermarkets, bakeries, and shops that provide urgent services to citizens are also exempted from adhering to this schedule. Amid these changes, there seems to be some confusion between the implementation of winter working hours, and daylight-saving time that involves shifting the clock back by sixty minutes. The latter will take effect from the last Thursday of October, which is separate from the change in shop timings that comes into action from the last Friday of September.