Ethiopia, the East African nation striving to be the hub of light manufacturing by 2025, inaugurated a new industrial park in Kombolcha town, a town 367km north-east of Addis Ababa. At the inauguration ceremony, Ethiopian Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn stated that the culmination of the first phase of the industrial park will have an immense role in Ethiopia’s economy, industrial growth and job creation efforts.
The park, which was built at a cost of 90 million US dollars in Amhara regional state, is located less than 480kms from Port Djibouti.
The industrial park has already attracted some well-known companies from the U.S., South Korea, and Italy, according to the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC).
Dr. Arkebe Oqubay, Board Chairman of the Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC) of Ethiopia for his part said the construction of the first phase of the industrial park has been completed within nine months. Expansion projects will be carried out on up to 1,000 hectares of land in the future. The second phase of the park will include other zonal areas, including Dessie town, Dr. Arkebe said.
There is also a plan to finalize the construction of Bahir Dar industrial park on April, Arerti and Debre Berhan industrial parks on June 2018, thus increasing the number of industrial hubs in the regional state to four, he stated.
Built on 75 hectares of land, Kombolcha industrial park has 13 industrial sheds and will create jobs for 20,000 people. The industrial park is dedicated to apparel products.
As part of its industrialization plan through the expansion of industrial parks, Ethiopia will also inaugurate another industrial park tomorrow: Mekelle industrial park, which was built in Tigray regional state.
Source: FBC
