Companies which entered into Hawassa industrial park and rented sheds there have begun importing and erecting manufacturing machines as well as training their employees, said the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC).
The registration of 27,000 employees has been carried out so far for the eco-friendly industrial park built on 130 hectares of land with the capacity to employee 60,000 people once it goes fully operational, the Commission told FBC yesterday.
Dr Belachew Mekuria, Deputy Commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission, said five of the companies which owned the sheds built on 11,000 hectares of land within the park have been shipping their equipment to Ethiopia.
Among these, an Indian company known as Hydra Mani will commence production in less than a month. The other Indian company, APK, had already imported its machines and the only thing left is to erect them, he said.
The Indian giant Arvind, which started manufacturing denim at Bole Lemi industrial park, has begun deploying its manufacturing machines at Hawassa industrial park. Other companies have been importing their machines, of which most of them have arrived at port Djibouti, he said.
Hydra Mani has employed over 1,000 people, while Tal Group is training 200 Ethiopians abroad. Moreover, another Chinese company is training 130 Ethiopians in China, whilst the Indian Rymond is training its Ethiopian workers in India.
An American clothing company, PVH, is also training 160 Ethiopians. According to Dr Belachew, about 80 percent of the employees are women.
In a related development, expansion project of the Hawassa industrial park has been commenced on 80 hectares of land. The expansion is mainly aimed at manufacturing cotton and woolen clothes.
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