30k workforce to be trained for Hawassa Industrial Park

25 Jul '16

2 min read

An agreement has been signed to source, recruit and train 30,000 people in the textile and garment industry for the newly launched Hawassa Industrial Park in Ethiopia.

The agreement has been signed by four parties, viz. the Enterprise Partners, a programme of UK's Department for International Development (DfID), Trade and Industry Bureau of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS), Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI), and the Tenants' Association representing the manufacturers at park.

As per the agreement, beginning September 2016, people will be imparted on-the-job training over the next two and a half years. Around 80 per cent of the workforce is expected to be women.

The workforce would be selected through a process of informing, registering, orienting and pre-selection from potential recruitment areas within SNNPRS.

The Hawassa eco-industrial park, inaugurated this month, is the first of its kind in Ethiopia. It was built in a record time of less than one year with an estimated cost of $250 million. The park is spread over 1.3 million sq metre, of which 300,000 sq metre is factory shed built up area. There is Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) facility that enables recycling of 85 per cent of sewerage disposal water and meets international standards.

Around 15 textile and garment companies from the US, China, India, Sri Lanka and six local companies are setting up their operations in the park. Once fully operational, the industries within the park will create a total of 60,000 jobs in double shift.

The park, built on public-private partnership model, will serve as a model for other industrial parks to be built in Adama, Dire Dawa, Mekele and Kombolcha. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India