Industry Ministry to offer incentives for textile sector

CAIRO – 3 December 2017: Egypt will offer incentives for investors to attract new projects in the textile sector, Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Kabil said Sunday.

In a meeting with the Supreme Council for Textile Industries, Kabil said that the ministry has launched three cities and other industrial complexes for the textile industry in Kafr El-Dawar city, on the outskirts of Alexandria and El-Mahalla city in Damietta governorate.

“The Industry Ministry is cooperating with the ministries of industry, agriculture and the public business sector to develop this sector,” Kabil said in a statement.

In October, Kabil announced that Egypt will launch the 2018-2020 national strategy for developing handicrafts and cultural industry before the end of this year.

The strategy was said to focus on training workers, marketing products in external markets, and connecting technicians with local supply chains.

Exports of the Textile Export Council increased 3 percent in the period between January to October 2017 to stand at $673 million, compared with $651 million a year earlier, according to official figures.

Turkey came first among the countries importing textile from Egypt, acquiring $230.27 million of exports, followed by Italy ($132.98 million), Saudi Arabia ($26.79 million) and Tunisia ($21.85 million).

Egypt’s textile exports to Germany and Portugal reached $16.89 million and $13.19 million respectively.