Government maintains prices of purchasing local cotton

The Ismail government will not be implementing further increases to the prices of local cotton set by the Agriculture Ministry, Al Shorouk reports. An agreement between the manpower and agriculture ministries will see the government purchase the entire 1.5 mn qintars harvested during season if global cotton prices drop and pay more for its local cotton purchases if global prices rise. Meanwhile, the trade and agriculture ministries signed a EUR 1.5 mn cooperation agreement with the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation to increase the added value of Egyptian cotton and improve cotton farmers’ productivity over a two-year timespan, Ahram Gate reports.