Ethiopia will come up with two new industrial parks for the textile and garment industry. The Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC) of Ethiopia has awarded construction of these parks to Chinese firms. CGCOC will construct the Bole Lemi II industrial park, an extension of the Bole Lemi I, while CCCC, the Chinese construction firm, will build the Jimma industrial park.

The Bole Lemi II Industrial Park will be constructed at a cost of 3.5 billion birr in southern part of Addis Ababa. IPDC has selected CGCOC to undertake the construction which will take 12 months, while the South Korean firm DOHWA will be the consultant of the project.

The Jimma Industrial Park will be built in the Oromia Regional State in Jimma town at cost of 1.5 billion birr. CCCC which has accomplished several major construction projects in Ethiopia, it will construct the industry park within nine months. A local consulting firm, MH Engineering, will supervise the construction project.

The government gave number one priority to the textile and garment industry, IPDC CEO, Sisay Gemechu said during the contract signing ceremony. “It is a light industry which is labour intensive. And it uses locally produced raw materials,” he added.

Managers of the Chinese construction firms appreciated the Ethiopian government’s commitment to develop industrial parks and create job opportunities and boost the export sector. They assured that the construction of the projects would be completed according to schedule and high quality standards.

Since its establishment in 2014, IPDC has successfully completed the construction of two industrial Parks-Bole Lemi I and Hawassa. Currently, the corporation is developing the Mekelle, Kombolcha, Adama and Dire Dawa industrial parks.

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