Egyptian Minister of the Public Business Sector Hisham Tawfik told MPs on Sunday that a plan is currently underway to implement legislative, regulatory and administrative reforms at public sector companies.

“We are also introducing technical reforms in the form of injecting more money in this sector to streamline its production lines and make it more competitive,” Tawfik said in a statement before parliament’s industrial committee.

Tawfik said the public business law (203/1991) was passed to help solve the problems facing the public sector companies.

“But later this law was amended to help liberalise this sector and help its companies stand up to competition from the private sector, which has become the dominant player in the Egyptian economy since the 1990s,” said Tawfik, adding that “the legislative and administrative amendments also aim to boost transparency and governance rules in the public business sector.”

Tawfik spoke in detail about the reform of spinning and weaving companies.

“We injected EGP 21 billion in investments to help upgrade the sector of spinning and weaving companies, which were burdened with EGP 44 billion in debts.

“As many as 119  bosses and managers in these companies faced evaluation tests,” said Tawfik, adding that “workers in these companies also received training in the area of operation and marketing fields.”

Tawfik revealed that a government committee including the ministers of public business, agriculture, internal trade and industry was formed to upgrade the cotton growing sector.

“The committee aims to boost the contribution of Egyptian cotton to the national economy,” said Hesham, adding that “when a number of private sectors companies refused to buy cotton from farmers at EGP 1,800 per qintar, the government intervened to buy it from farmers at EGP 2,100 per qintar in order to protect farmers and save the sector from collapse.”