Petroleum Minister Osama Kamal inaugurated, on behalf of Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, on Tuesday 27/11/2012 an Egyptian-Italian factory to manufacture oil well caps, valves, control units and service equipment. The factory, in Badr industrial city, is the first of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East and is meant to give local manufacturing a shot in the arm, Kamal said.

Egypt will be tackling new ventures as part of its plan to develop oil and gas wells, the minister added. It is an opportunity to share Italy's advanced manufacturing technology and have trained Egyptian cadres in this field, he noted.