ADDIS ABABA – Ministry of Trade and Industry disclosed that the construction of the agro processing industrial parks is almost 90 percent in completion.
Ministry Communication Affairs Director, Wondimu Filate told The Ethiopian Herald that the major portion of the construction parks and the infrastructure facilities are already completed.
As to him, 90 percent of the road, electrifications and fences installation have been finalized with the remaining of shade construction. The country has also earned 50 million USD in terms of concessional loan from the Korean Exim Bank for the installation of Waste Treatment Plant in the parks and eying ways to launch the installation shortly, he noted.
Currently, local investors are obtaining land to construct production shades in the four parks, according to Wondimu. He noted that the government subsidizes local investors financing them with about 80 percent loan to invest in the parks.
Therefore, the parks will create 1.2 million Jobs of which 400,000 direct and 800,000 indirect ones, as to the communication director. Each park is expected to host 100 private owners on average following the completion of the construction.
Even the parks are connecting with the surrounding community from now, Wondimu said mentioning that some 78,000 farmers and 13 unions are working with Yirgalem agro processing park to provide agricultural products as an input to the park that is already producing oil.
MoTI is conducting follow up and is going to assess the projects’ final construction process soon, he pointed out. The construction of rural technology centers is also undertaking in the nearby areas side by side to the parks in order to supply the needed input, he said.
The construction of the four agro processing industrial parks that have been undertaking in Amhara, Oromia, Tigrai and SNNPs states are intended to build a bridge between agricultural and industrial transformations as per the national effort to ensure industry led economy, Wondimu stated.
“These are pilot projects and the nation has a wide plan to expand more agro-processing industrial parks that provide semi-processed or raw inputs to the manufacturing industry after the successful witness of the projects”.
The country has been undertaking the construction of the parks on 1,000 hectares of land aimed at creating jobs, boosting export and foreign currency in addition to the major goal, transforming from agriculture to industry led economy, it was learnt.
The Ethiopian Herald, March 10/2020
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
