CAIRO: The Egyptian Cabinet’s media center has denied reports on social media about the government privatizing spinning and weaving factories.

The Ministry of Public Enterprise Sector said that there was no validity to stories about privatizing spinning and weaving factories, and that these factories were operating normally. It said that a comprehensive plan was being implemented to develop the textile industry at an estimated cost of 21 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.3 billion) as it was one of the country’s most important businesses.

The development plan is based on modernizing the cotton circulation and production system, as well as developing gins, in addition to developing spinning and weaving companies and raising the efficiency of their workers.

Within the framework of the state’s plan to develop ginning — as it is the first link in the chain of the spinning and weaving industry — the development of the first ginning industry in Fayoum Governorate has been completed, and the development of three in Lower Egypt is being completed. This is provided that the development of three other gins has started, in addition to work toward the completion of the development plan for cotton gins nationwide.

Work is also underway to merge a number of spinning and weaving companies to improve performance.

The head of the Holding Company for Spinning and Weaving, Ahmed Mostafa, said that spinning and weaving had been a long-standing industry in Egypt for more than 100 years, but it had been neglected, in addition to a lack of investment in machinery, buildings or any aspect of the sector. Mostafa said that the existing machines were old and not suitable for new technology, and thus produced defective products that were not acceptable to the local or foreign market.

Mostafa said that there was a 21-billion-Egyptian-pound plan to develop the sector. This plan had been developed by an international advisory office and was approved by all parties under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

The new machines had already been contracted, price advances paid and the shipping program was being prepared, which will start from the end of 2020. New machines had already arrived at the port, and there were three training centers in ​Al-Mahalla Al-Kubra, Kafr El-Dawar and Helwan.

Mostafa said that 700 million Egyptian pounds had been allocated to train 45,000 workers. They would be trained on new machines, each of them in their specialization, whether in spinning, weaving or dyeing, he said.