I'd cross post in the paint forum, I'm sure someone there has the answer and reason for it! I've never had the luxury of paining a room that doesn't need several rounds of spackeling and sanding, so I'm always stuck priming and putting on 2 coats. Since it's already white, I would be tempted to do a very, very light sanding with fine sandpaper to take the sheen off a bit and follow with 2 light coats of paint. It may be in my head, but I feel like two thinner coats cover better than one thick coat. I'm absolutely not any type of expert, so that may be the exact opposite of what you should do. But maybe it will stimulate some discussion.

Since you're shopping at the cafeteria, Minwax makes a clear product called, Procrylic. That works well for cabinets. Lowes offers Varathane which makes a very nice waterborne poly. Buy only what you need. A quart will go a long way. Michael

@Laura Holland Thanks so much for the update. I am very glad you found someone to do a post-catalyzed conversion varnish on your cabinetry. That's the standard for finish longevity. How utterly horrible that the contractors have already messed it up. Yes, repairs are very difficult with the 2-part coatings. They absolutely should have been much more cautious. It's somewhat hard to mar a 2-part finish, so they must have been really careless. It sounds like you may have gotten the satin finish of the INSL-X. I have heard the semi-gloss is significantly more durable. If you do have it re-done, I wouldn't go with any Benjamin Moore products again. Find someone who can do Milesi, Renner, or ICA-Ilva. All three of those would be superior, but they may need to be sprayed as most formulations from those companies dry fast, and the 2-part formulas provide the most hardness and chemical resistance. Many people have reported finish failures with Advance even with a Stix Primer. INSL-X is a step above Advance based on my research. In fact, INSL-X is actually made by the same people who make Stix. Benjamin Moore bought the company.

When in Egypt, do as the Egyptians. What your Egyptian contractor is describing is known as spalling. The locally available materials and construction techniques are different in Egypt than in the western world. If you have noticed, in the USA, there are many layers in the exterior of a home, designed for moisture control and insulation. I don’t know what your materials are, but it appears that there is a moisture control issue. That is why they had to scribe/scratch the paint, to get rid of excess paint and to create a increased surface area (on a micro level) to have better adhesion between the new and old layers. The Jotun Fenomastic is a high quality acrylic paint. With all the layers you are describing, it would effectively create a thick impermeable layer on top of your surface (think of it as being similar to covering your wall with plastic). Water goes from a liquid to a vapor, and that vapor expands in proportion to the temperature. When the moisture builds up between the wall and the impermeable surface, it causes spalling. Believe what your Egyptian contractor is telling you. He may not know the technical reasons for the problem, but he knows the results. You are very limited by the materials of construction. My recommendation is to use lots of lighting fixtures with LED bulbs, which are much safer than incandescent, fluorescent or halogen. Halogen is the worst for safety, durability and overheating and should be avoided. Hang some mirrors to bounce the light around. Learn to live with the dark color, or prepare to pay for more scratching off old paint in hope that you can buy a lighter color hardener. Since I am not familiar with your locally available materials, I don’t even know if that is a possibility. https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-spalling-1798631 https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/75130/What-Happens-When-You-Put-a-Plastic-Vapor-Barrier-in-Your-Wall