Hawassa Industrial Park was inaugurated by Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Dessalegn, on July 13, 2016. The park was built at a cost of 250 million USD in the capital of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples State, Hawassa.

The park, built on 300 hectares of land, is said to host mainly textile and garment products. Currently there are 15 foreign as well as 5 local manufacturers that are operating within the park. It also has 37 factory sheds, one stop shop service center and its own renewable electricity source. In addition to these, it utilizes zero liquid discharge technologies.

Speaking during the inauguration, Hailemariam Dessalegn, said the Park would bring economic transformation to Ethiopia by attracting foreign direct investments and shifting small scale manufacturers to larger ones. Moreover, it enhances the aim to attain goals set for the industrial sector and build the capacity as well as the competitiveness of local investors, the Premier added.

Board Chairperson for Ethiopian Industrial Parks Development Corporation (EIPDC), Arkebe Equbay (Dr.), on his part said the park would have significant advantage in job creation by creating 60,000 jobs. The figure would raise to 84,000 jobs when expansion project of the park is concluded, he furthered.

According to Arkebe Ethiopia currently earns 110 million USD per year from the textile sector. Hawassa Industrial Park alone would boost this performance to 1 Billion USD per year, he explained.

The Park would benefit 2 million people in a decade period, the Chairperson noted. The government has allocated 1.3 billion USD for the development of industrial parks under which 12 parks would be constructed, he added.

Currently the construction of Dire Dawa, Kombolcha and Mekele industrial parks is underway. Construction of industrial parks in Adama, Jima, Bahir Dar, Debre Birhan, Aisha Dewelle, Arerti and Kilinto in Addis Ababa) are planned to have industrial parks.

Source: Fana Broadcasting Corporate