Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated on Tuesday the first phase of a new industrial complex in 10th of Ramadan City in Sharqiya governorate. The complex was built by the Egyptian National Co. for Industrial Development, which is is part of the Egyptian Armed Forces' National Public Service Projects Organisation. According to a statement by the Egyptian presidency, Sisi inaugurated a cotton textile complex comprised of six factories in Robeiki industrial city. The inauguration event was attended by Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal and Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly. The new complex aims at exploiting the full value of Egyptian cotton and to avoid exporting it in raw form. According to the CEO of the Egyptian National Company for Industrial Development Lt. General Kamel Helal, the complex was built in nearly 30 months over 429 feddans. "The project will provide in its first stage 1,350 direct job opportunities and 12,000 indirect job opportunities," Helal told reporters earlier on Tuesday before the inauguration. He also added that Egypt was going to have a "big and important revival" in the textile and weaving industry in the upcoming period, and that the project is part of the Egyptian administration's plan to revive the Egyptian cotton industry. As part of the inauguration ceremony, the president watched a short film titled "The Threads of Hope." The film documents the story of the building of the industrial complex in Robeiki, which is considered the first smart industrial city in the country. Lt. General Ihab El-Far, the head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, explained that 26 Egyptian companies and three consulting firms participated in the construction of Robeiki complex. He added that 44,000 workers and 1100 engineers and technicians built the complex. He also explained that work on 13 industrial complexes across the nation has been completed with work on three more underway. Sisi said the government has embarked on the execution of an ambitious plan to develop the country's textile industry, which involves replacement of factories over two years. During the event, President Sisi revealed that 1.1 trillion pounds have been allocated for transportation projects in Egypt till 2024. Sisi also said that he has commissioned the minister of transportation to solve the issue of a residential building in Cairo's Zamalek neighbourhood getting caught in a landslide two days ago. Concerning coronavirus, the Egyptian president called on the public to continue to take health precautions. "I hope that the precautionary measures taken in the past months continue. We have managed to move from big infection numbers to small numbers, thank God," he said, adding that the health measures were taken in parallel with economic measures to allow several sectors to continue operating through the crisis. He added, however, that "if anything happens again, we may have return to lockdown."
