The Egyptian ministry of the public business sector recently launched a strategy to restructure all textile firms under the Cotton and Textile Industries Holding Company (CTIHC) to restore the stature of the textile industry in the domestic and global markets. It involves a plan to reduce the firms’ losses and raise profits with a total investment of EGP 21 billion. The strategy will be fully implemented by 2022. The government plans to quadruple textile and garment exports by 2025. The government has already started to implement a plan, at a cost of EGP 8 million, to have 17 centres in Fayoum and Beni Sweif governorates to receive cotton crop directly from farmers avoiding intermediaries. This system offers farmers the right to be paid 70 per cent of the sales price in cash, and that the remaining 30 per cent are to be paid within a week of the public auction, An Egyptian newspaper reporter quoted minister of the public business sector Hisham Tawfik as saying. As part of its vision 2025, Egypt also plans to establish a new integrated city for textile industries and to boost the sector with EGP 12 million. The plan involves setting up four new factories, modernising equipment in existing factories training workers. Chinese company Ningxia Mankai began in May construction of an industrial city for textile and clothing production, which will cover more than 3 million sq m and will host nearly 600 factories with investments worth $9 billion. The new city is expected to attain full capacity by the end of this year, the company said. However, Mohamed El-Morshedy, head of textile industry at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said no action has been taken on the ground to modernise Egypt’s textile industry. The sector has failed to attract investments and even the Chinese company announced as the key investor in the new textile city has not taken any real strides to date, he said. The textile city announced is just ‘ink on paper’, with no action on the ground, he added.
