Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s imports of textile products dropped 73% to $200 million at the end of 2017 from $768 million in 2016, Egypt’s trade minister Tarek Kabil said.
Kabil attributed the decline in textile products imports to the new procedures taken by the Ministry of Trade and Industry at the beginning of 2016 to rationalise imports.
Almost 255 textile buildings have been industrially licensed over the past year with total investments of EGP 2.3 billion, he added, pointing out that it has provided about 51,000 jobs.
The ministry has launched three industrial cities specialised in textile industries, in addition to 255,000 square metre industrial lands in Kafr El Dawwar and El-Mahalla, Kabil highlighted in a statement on Sunday.
Moreover, Abdul Moneim El-Banna, minister of agriculture and land reclamation said that the ministry has launched a national campaign to plant three new kinds of cotton.
This campaign helped to boost cotton fields to 220,000 acres, El-Banna noted, adding that the ministry seeks to raise cotton fields to 250,000 acres.
In July 2017, head of the Textile Industries Chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries Mohammed El-Morshedy said that textile industries contribute 3% of Egypt's gross domestic product.
