PM calls for national project to revive textile industry

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has called on officials concerned with textile to adopt a national project to help get the industry back on its feet. 

Speaking on behalf of Ismail at a national conference on upgrading the textile industry Monday, Agriculture Minister Essam Fayed said integrated studies and practical solutions are needed to help boost economic and social growth rates and secure suitable jobs for youth.

"This conference is held amid big challenges that face our national economy," Fayed said, stressing "the only choice we have is to work."

He touched upon what he called "huge structural problems" facing the textile industry in Egypt. He cited problems with raw materials and equipment, as well as economic decisions and policies.

Fayed stressed the need to draw a new map for cotton cultivation; one that would meet the needs of the Egyptian industry. 

Egypt, under President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, pays great attention to labor-intensive industries; textile in particular, the agriculture minister said.

He made it clear that more than one million persons are working in the field of textile.