Production Capacity of Manufacturing Industries Reached 46 in Half Year, Says PM

Addis Ababa, February 22/2022 /ENA/  The production capacity of domestic manufacturing industries has reached 46 percent during the past six months of the current Ethiopian budget year, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.

The premier made the remark while responding to questions posed by members of the House of People's Representatives today.

He told the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the HPR that although the government has been working to increase the manufacturing capacity of local industries to 50 percent during the stated period it achieved 46 percent of the target due to different reasons.

If the nation could increase the production capacity of domestic manufacturing industries from 70 to 80 percent in the future, its overall economic benefits will be immense, the PM added.     

Out of the 177 shades in the various industrial parks, 104 have become fully operational; and 158 parks owned by private investors are either functional or on their way to become operational.  

According to him, successful works have been carried out in completing industrial parks launched in the past few years.

With respect to production of textiles in the park, Abiy stated that most of the uniforms required for security forces have been imported and stressed the need to enhance import substitution to reduce foreign currency expenses.

Therefore, the production of uniforms required for security forces would be fully substituted by domestic textile industries, he noted.

Speaking about the services sector, the premier further noted that satisfactory achievement has been registered in the past six months.

To recover the tourism sector affected by COVID-19, tourism destinations have been widely expanded.  

In this regard, the PM said members of the diaspora who visited their country as part of the Ethiopian Homecoming Initiative have also helped to recover the nation’s tourism.

Thanking the diaspora for their support to the country, PM Abiy also called the Ethiopian Muslim community living across the globe to celebrate the upcoming Eid al-Fitr in their motherland.    

The 35th AU Summit has also played a big role in improving tourism in Ethiopia, he added.

The tourism attraction projects being constructed at international standard in Koysha, Gorgora and Wonchi will further boost tourism capacity of the country.