Ibrahim al-Masri
The government is working to address problems faced in a number of idle and shut down factories, according to Kamal Abu Eita, Minister of Manpower and Immigration.
The government will address these problems in cooperation with factory owners, employees and the Federation of Egyptian Industries, in a way that will also help maintain the budget of the ministry’s Emergency Subsidies Fund.
These statements came during a meeting attended by the minister and the board of directors of the fund, to search for ways to improve and develop the latter’s performance.
Abu Eita said the ministry will pursue and improve non-traditional methods of enhancing the fund’s performance, and help rescue the companies and factories that have recently shut down. Factories requiring monetary aid that totals less than the amount disbursed in wages to factory employees would be prioritised under the new plan.
Abu Eita said the fund was created to provide aid to factory employees who encountered problems in their work in a way that led to the total or partial cessation of their activities. Such funds would be distributed in accordance with the controls and regulations stipulated in the law that created the fund.
The fund will be used to promote and foster long term company growth, as opposed to short term solutions, such as paying basic salaries. This will require a new vision regarding the fund’s regulations so as to better enable the fund to rescue idle factories.
A series of new policies and procedures aimed at preserving the state of future ownership of companies were discussed. Abu Eita added that the ministry will spare no effort or expense in efforts to rescue such industries in addition to studying ways to pump new money into production efforts in a way that will further support the economy.
