The paper factory in Deir Azor is undergoing a complete makeover by VIMPEX – the Austrian operator of the state owned factory.
The new makeover plan will shift production from 40 to 70 tons of paper annually and will cost 15 million US dollars, the new plan will install a new machinery producing a new kind of paper referred to as "expanded paper" which allows for the production of high quality paper bags with strong endurance to pack even cement , with a 2 ply paper instead of the 3 ply paper usually used for cement bags. Eventually saving energy and raw materials.
The installment of the new machinery will be done by a group of Swiss and German experts, who devised the expanded paper technology
According to Mohamed Salahi the director of the paper company, "the new technology will supply the needs for cement bags in Syria in addition to creating enough surplus to export . Moreover, the new line of production should be operational be the end of the first quarter of 2012."
The experts who are supervising the installment and calibration of the new machinery, are headed by Albert Heim, a Swiss expert who told Syrian days that it was difficult for him to make the decision to come to Syria but he finally came to see that things are "quite different" from what he heard in the news.
The expert explained that the new technology will give more added value to the end product, allowing it to compete abroad.
The new technology is new to the Middle East region and can only be found in Egypt and now in Syria.

The overwhelmingly negative coverage of the Syrian crisis had made many western experts and technicians hesitate and even refuse to come to Syria to follow up on the installation of the new production line.
Components of the new line have been in Syria since April this year but the hesitation of experts has delayed the full inauguration of the line. This delay made Nabil Al-Kezbari the owner of VIMPEX take the decision to send the experts in his private jet after buying then an insurance policy of one million dollars for each of them.
Al-Kezbari said earlier that the general establishment of cement required a modification in the specifications of the cement packing bag and asked VIMPEX to comply by modifying production lines and because "we were convinced by the economic arguments they made and out of concern for tax payers money, we decided to install the new production line."
The new line will produce 90 grams per square meter paper and is a strong indication of the company's will to carry out its investments in Syria, a will expressed by its owner who assures Syrianday.net that he'll continue to expand business in Syria to creat more jo opportunities "despite all the difficulties that we as Syrians face inside and abroad and even with the difficulties of working with the public sector."