ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's textile and Garment sector export revenue during the Ethiopian Fiscal Year 2016/17 that ended on July 8, only achieved a third of planned revenue.
The East African country earned 89.3 million US dollars out of a planned 271 million US dollars during the Fiscal Year.
Speaking to Xinhua on Saturday, Assefa Tesfaye, Corporate Communications Director at Ethiopia Ministry of Industry (MoI) says insufficient supply of manufacturing inputs, delay in commissioning of several industries contributed to the underachievement.
Ethiopia is building or has commissioned more than a dozen industrial parks across the country with a view to become a light manufacturing hub in Africa by 2025 especially in textile and garments.
It in particular had its ambitions set on the Hawassa Industrial Park, 275 kms south of Addis Ababa to revolutionize its budding textile and garment sector.
However, the ministry said a lag in commissioning of some textile and garment plants in the Hawassa Industrial Park contributed to the disappointing export result of the sector.
Built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, Hawassa Industrial park was inaugurated in July 2016, with already 18 companies having started operations inside the industrial park.
Six of them are currently exporting their textile and garment products to the global market.
Once operational at its full potential, the park is expected to generate 1 billion US dollars for Ethiopia mainly from textile and garment products.
