On 22 October 2025, a workshop gathering the main stakeholders of the Egyptian cotton sector was held in Cairo. The event is coming at the end of a 3-day visit organized in the framework of "The Egyptian Cotton project – Phase II" funded by AICS and implemented by UNIDO ITPO Italy, to showcase latest improvement on sustainability from field to factories. Representatives of Filmar Group, Cotonificio Albini, Marzotto Lab, Prada, Tunicotex, and Thom Browne of Zegna Group visited the spinning and weaving factories in Borg El Arab and then move to Kafr el Sheikh. 

In the village of Qalin, the project has deployed controlled demo plots in collaboration with Cotton Connect to test regenerative practices on Egyptian cotton fields. These trials are meant to demonstrates how regenerative agriculture can enhance soil health, mitigate climate change effects and reduceapplications of chemicals by increasing farmers awareness on how to control and monitor pests’ infections.   The technical team of Cotton Connect, a partner of the project  since 2020, has led a guided visits to the fields together with involved local farmers.

Results observed so far were presented in Cairo workshop attended by local authorities such as Ministry of Industry, Agricultural Research Center, Cotton Research Institute, Cotton Egypt Association, Alcotexa, Textile and Apparel Export councils, IMC, and local manufacturers. The Director of AICS Cairo, Mr. Tiberio Chiari reminded the attendees about how important is still the brand of Egyptian Cotton and to keep farmers at the centre to respond to new consumers' requirements. Dr. Megahed Ammar, representing the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, underlined the economic and social importance of Egyptian cotton for farmers. Supporting sustainability, as main objective of the Egyptian Cotton Project, is therefore essential to support the Ministry’s strategy to expand cotton cultivation whilst protecting the environment, optimizing water consumption, providing high value crop for farmers and supporting value addition locally. Detailed presentations were delivered by UNIDO ITPO Italy on the project progression from Phase I to Phase II and align project activities to emerging market needs.

The project marked an important milestone in sustainability for Egyptian Cotton sector launching Better Cotton in 2020, implemented by three local traders, namely Alkan Mohamed Nosseir, Modern Nile Cotton and El Ekhlas, and handed over to Cotton Egypt Association as a strategic partner. The project is now moving forward in promoting regenerative approach to cotton farming to further improve farmers and practitioners’ knowledge about innovative practices. Cotton Connect is collaborating with UNIDO in implementing localized regenerative practices, monitoring performance and aligning collected data to outcome framework relevant for the international textile sector. Full results will be published by end of the cotton season. 

Rasha Fahim, as Executive Director of the Textile Export Council, gave a detailed overview of the Egyptian textile industry and its competitive advantages as a sourcing hub. Egypt has a vertically integrated textile industry from fiber to finish garments, developed logistics connecting efficiently regional and nearby EU markets. Egypt is also enjoy duty free access to more than 80 countries, including EU.

Finally, Graham Tabor representative of Thom Browne from Zegna group, explained why social and environmental compliance, due diligence are key from brands facing new regulatory frameworks in EU and US. Handling complex supply chains all over the world is very cumbersome and time demanding. The Egyptian Cotton Project implemented by UNIDO ITPO Italy supports brands in key ways. It connects brands directly to the Egyptian supply chain to build communication, collaboration, acquire information about traceability. It supports brands to understand the local context and different private and public sector roles, in order to know how to support and build local capacity.

This event reiterated the importance of UNIDO in providing a platform to connect different stakeholders to give visibility and access to Egyptian suppliers and local relevant authorities, activating partnerships with Italian manufacturers such as Filmar Group and Cotonificio Albini, as well as reaching out to brands and retailers.