Ethiopia eyes Chinese built industrial park to attract eco-friendly investment

ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia on Friday announced that its flagship Chinese-built Hawassa Industrial Park, designed and constructed in an environment-friendly manner, will be model for other industrial park projects throughout the country.

The Hawassa Industrial Park, expected to be fully operational as of next week, is said to be the first Sustainable Textile and Apparel Industrial park in Africa with state-of-the-art infrastructure and facility.

The east African country further hoped that the Hawassa Industrial Park, once fully operational, would help its aspiration and commitment to build green economy. Designed, constructed and operated as environment-friendly the park applies the latest technology for treating and recycling about 90 percent of its water usage.

Development of sustainable, world class specialized, export-driven and competitive industrial parks is the major target of Ethiopia's vision towards economic development, according to Arkebe Oqubay, Special Advisor to the Ethiopian Prime Minister.

Oqubay told reporters on Friday that Ethiopia's rapid economic growth can only be sustained through the realization of a structural transformation, which requires creating a robust and competitive industrial base.

According to Oqubay, the Hawassa industrial park would be considered as a model for other industrial parks under construction in the east African country, in which efforts will be exerted to implement the Zero-Liquid Discharge (ZLD) technology to promote environmental protection.

Built by China Civil Engineering Corporation (CCECC), the Hawassa Industrial Park was completed in a record time of nine months, and was inaugurated on July 2016.

The Ethiopian government has planned to construct 10 industrial parks across the country aiming at enhancing job opportunities, earn revenue and promote technology transfer, said Sisay Gemechu, Ethiopia's Industrial Parks Development Corporation CEO.

After the Hawassa industrial park, the government has further embarked on the development of similar parks in Kombolcha, Mekele, Kilinto, Bole Lemmi II, Dire Dawa and Adama among others, of which Mekele and Kombolcha industrial parks will be inaugurated soon.