Egypt to build carbon-free textile production industrial city

• Based in Port Said covering 4.5m sq m
• Investments of $2bn
• Egypt’s textile exports growing

Egypt is planning to build a carbon-free textile industrial city with total investments of up to $2 billion, the first of its kind in the Mena region.

China’s Cloud Chain, a technology company focused on carbon data management solutions, is setting up the project in the northeastern Port Said.

Mohamed Farid, minister of investment and foreign trade, discussed steps to build the project, to be named Egyptian Textile Industries City, at talks in Cairo on Thursday with a Chinese delegation, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The plan is to develop a total area of approximately 4.5 million square metres in two phases, each lasting 24 months, the statement said.

Phase one includes establishing integrated, environmentally friendly industrial and service facilities, with the aim to attract between 30 and 50 textile companies. The plan is to also build service facilities such as technical and vocational schools, logistics facilities and commercial centres.

The second phase involves developing an area of around 2.5 million square metres to complete the integrated industrial chain and enhance integration between supporting and complementary industries, according to the ministry.

It said the project’s total investment is between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, without mentioning funding sources, which will be injected in phases. It is expected to create “between 50,000 and 80,000 direct job opportunities, along with around 60,000 indirect jobs”.

Egypt, the third-largest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia and the UAE, wants to attract capital into its garment and textile sector as part of IMF-recommended measures to stimulate its economy and slash trade and fiscal deficits.

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Heavy investments over the past few years, including from China, Turkey and other Asian countries, have helped to improve Egypt’s clothing and textile exports.

From around $787 million in the first quarter of 2025, the value of Egypt’s garment exports increased to nearly $862 million in the first quarter of this year, the Apparel Export Council of Egypt said.

The country wants to raise the manufacturing sector’s contribution to 20 percent of GDP in 2030. Its government has rolled out several initiatives since 2025 to boost industrial production and improve the investment climate, in line with its National Industrial Strategy 2024-2030.