Minister Stresses Need for Coordination among Relevant Stakeholders in Manufacturing Sector

Industry Minister Melaku Alebel said his ministry will strengthen coordination among relevant government bodies and stakeholders to create a better environment for the manufacturing sector.

The ministry organized today a discussion with the relevant government offices to assess the “Let Ethiopia Produce” movement launched last Ethiopian budget year to support the manufacturing sector.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said the movement has registered results and among the achievements include addressing bottlenecks and infrastructure issues and bringing closed industries back to work.

In this regard, some 179 closed industries have started production following the launching of the movement.

The ministry has succeeded in substituting imports worth 2 billion USD during the budget year, it was learned.

“Let Ethiopia Produce” movement has motivated the manufacturing sector and investment was attracted to the sector, the minister added.

However, although the movement has helped solve several problems within a few months, strengthening coordination between government actors is vital to address the remaining problems in the manufacturing sector, Melaku stressed.

Due to underemployment of the manufacturing sector, its share of the GDP is limited and the number of jobs created last Ethiopian year was just 255,000.

He underlined the need for increase coordinated approach with federal, regional and city administrations as well as relevant stakeholders.

Melaku noted that there are many attractive conditions in Ethiopia in the agriculture, tourism, mining and information technology sectors.

In the one-day discussion, parliament representatives, federal, regional states and city administrations and stakeholders have taken part.

The participants have expressed their readiness to coordinate efforts to address the issues in the manufacturing sector.

Source: Ethiopia News Agency