Addis Ababa, 25 November, 2015 (WIC) – Three factories opened within the Bole lemi industrial park have created about 3900 job opportunities, Managers of the factories said.
Chairman of Shin Textile Solutions Factory, Min Ho Cha, told walta that the coming in to operation of the factory has created 1,700 job opportunities. The company is established in Ethiopia at cost of 4 million USD, he noted.
The government has provided the necessary support for the establishment of the factory and it is currently exporting its products to North America and China, he said.
Manager of JJ Textile Factory, Alberto Mercedes, on his part told Walta that his factory is currently producing children’s clothes. The factory which is established by 2 million USD has created job opportunity to 700 citizens, he said.
Manager of a shoe factory opened by Korean Investor, Su Shi, said the factory is built at a cost of 2.5 million USD, and has created 1,500 job opportunities. According to Su, her company is planning to expand the factory so that they can double their production capacity and create more employment.
Employees who have secured job opportunities at Bole Lemi Industrial Park said their lives have been significantly improved.
According to the factories workers who have talked to Walta Information Center (WIC), development of the industrial park has opened a door to earn their livelihood through monthly salary. The employees told Walta that they are earning more than 680 birr per month.
One of the employees, Emawayish Tamir, got the job after completing grade 10. Emawayish was looking for a job that can enable her sustain livelihood. Her search for a job took her at Bole Lemi industrial park. She is currently working with JJ Textile Factory, built inside Bole Lemi Industrial Park.
Like Emawayish, Shibire Abera and Tigist Tesema found employment opportunity with the coming in to operation factories within the compound of the first industrial park developed by government; Bole Lemi. The 18 year old Shibire earns 1,500 birr while Tigist gets 680 birr working in a shoe factory that have started operation inside the park.
Both of them are hopeful that their income will grow with the development of the factory in the future. They told Walta that the prospect to growth with the company is high as it is witnessed in the past.
Ethiopia has embarked on developing industrial parks in different part of the country in order to realize its vision of becoming Africa’s light manufacturing hub by 2025. At the heart of that vision is transforming its economy from an agrarian to industrial one so as to enhance labor productivity.