ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC) has signed a combined 100 million U.S. dollars investment agreements with local and foreign companies to invest across industrial parks in the country.
The agreement, which was signed between the IPDC and 11 local and foreign investors on Thursday, envisaged investments across five industrial parks in garment and textiles, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, and plastic recycling, among other sectors, state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported.
Aklilu Tadesse, chief executive officer of IPDC, said on the occasion that when operational, the latest investments accords are expected to create 5,000 job opportunities while also creating market chain for an estimated 50,000 farmers.
Tadesse further underscored the Ethiopian government's efforts to increase the inflow of investment in industrial parks, with particular attention to increase the participation of local investors along with augmenting foreign direct investment in the country.
"Industrial parks are key players in enhancing the national economy by creating jobs, increasing export trade and encouraging import substitution," ENA quoted Tadesse as saying.
The chief executive officer said the great attention given to potential and competitive local investors, the significant improvement in the service delivery of the corporation and the availability of many investment options have greatly increased the investment inflow in the parks in the past year.
According to figures from the IPDC, more than 130 local and foreign investors are currently engaged in various sectors across 12 industrial parks and one free trade zone across the country.
It said the industrial parks have created permanent and temporary employment opportunities for more than 100,000 Ethiopians, mainly the country's burgeoning youth population. ■
