CAIRO — Egypt’s Minister of Public Business Hisham Tawfik said Sept. 17 that Egypt will sell 14 tracts of land where it stores its industrial cotton gins in a bid to overhaul and develop the textile manufacturing industry. The land is worth 27 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.51 billion). The industry suffered losses of 2.7 billion Egyptian pounds from 2016-2017.

Tawfik said the plan to bolster the Holding Company for Spinning and Weaving will be funded from the proceeds of selling the cotton gin lands. He added that the development project will cost an estimated 25 billion Egyptian pounds. Though there is no prospective buyer for the land, the government plans to change the land's purpose from industrial to real estate.

Egypt is home to a distinguished and diversified textile industry. The sector plays a major role in the Egyptian economy, starting from the cultivation of cotton all the way to the production of textiles. In 2011, the textile industry made up 3% of the gross domestic product, 30% of the industrial product and 13% of nonpetroleum exports, according to the Central Bank of Egypt.

The state-owned Holding Company for Cotton, Spinning and Weaving handles the textile industry in Egypt. It comprises 32 companies distributed across Egypt's governorates. The holding company is divided into different businesses dealing in cotton trades and the spinning and weaving industry. The holding company has suffered since late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat initiated a policy of economic openness. Egypt began to import more cotton instead of focusing on cultivating Egyptian cotton. Textile manufacturing equipment has aged since then, and economic policies have not been renewed.