“Do not think that the country seeks to strive for taxes or nitpick … the goal of our move is construction not accountability,” El-Sisi said, affirming that the interior ministry announces detecting and taking measures against these factories every day.

The president made the remarks during an inauguration ceremony of a series of national projects in various sectors in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Qena.

He also urged moving these factories to the nearest industrial areas to continue their business within a legal framework.

“Those people [working in the factories] have tried to work and even if they did it in a wrong way, we would make it right,” El-Sisi said.

The president urged the ministries of interior and industry to collect data about the number of unlicensed factories to assess the possibility of legalising their status.

El-Sisi also inaugurated via video conference two industrial complexes in Upper Egypt’s Luxor and Beni Suef as part of 13 industrial complexes the state is implementing nationwide, including 10 in Upper Egypt.

The Luxor complex consists of 206 units worth EGP 817 million and is set to secure 20 investment opportunities, Minister of Industry Nevine Gamea said during the ceremony.

The Beni Suef complex comprises 266 units at a cost of EGP 901 million and will secure 25 investment opportunities, she added.

The president also inaugurated a number of roads and axes, including axes that link industrial and agricultural areas in Upper Egypt across the river.

The inaugurated axes are Adly Mansour axis in Beni Suef, Qus axis in Qena, Samalut axis in Minya, Kalabsha axis in Aswan, and Dayrout axis in Assiut.

Egypt has implemented national projects worth EGP 6.2 trillion in all sectors over the past seven years, said El-Sisi.

The inauguration of the national projects comes within the framework of the "Week of Upper Egypt" activities announced last week as part of the “state’s efforts to achieve an integrated developmental and service progress for the people of Upper Egypt,” Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said.

The projects also seek to create direct and indirect job opportunities, Rady added.

On Wednesday, El-Sisi inaugurated a gasoline production complex in Assiut as well as a number of development projects in Upper Egypt.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and a large number of ministers have attended the inauguration ceremony.

A total of 3,589 local development projects were completed over the past seven years in the Upper Egyptian governorates of Qena and Sohag, said Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Shaarawy during the ceremony.

Since 2014, the state has pumped investments worth around EGP 54 billion in local development programs in Upper Egypt, the minister added.

The ministry has also secured 269,000 job opportunities in Upper Egypt with a total investment of up to EGP 9.4 billion.