(Press release – Arvind Limited)
Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn today visited Arvind Limited’s apparel manufacturing facilities at the Hawassa Industrial Park.
Hawassa Industrial Park is one of the ten mega industrial parks being set up by Industrial Parks Development Corporation, a Government of Ethiopia initiative, to boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product and generate employment. These industrial parks will see investments by global and Ethiopian companies in industries like Textiles and Apparels, Industrial Machinery, Pharmaceuticals, Footwear, and Food and Beverages.
Arvind Limited is one of India’s leading and most diversified companies, with a presence in textiles, apparels, heavy engineering, water management, real estate, e-commerce and telecom.
Arvind’s Apparel Solutions business has set up seven apparel factories in the Hawassa Industrial Park (HIP) covering a total area of 13.5 acres. Even as the HIP was being commissioned, Arvind had already been manufacturing about 8.3 million pieces of jeans, shirts, essentials and suits from its two facilities in Addis Ababa and employing over 2,000 Ethiopian workers. The entire output is exported to US and Europe, earning precious foreign exchange for Ethiopia.
With the commissioning of the HIP factories, the total employment generated by Arvind in Ethiopia is expected to go up to 12,000 workers. The total output is expected to about 30 million pieces of shirts, denims and essentials, all of them for export.
In addition, Arvind has also signed a joint venture agreement with PVH (Heritage Brands), a leading global apparel brand, to manufacture in Ethiopia and export eight million pieces of shirts annually.
During his visit, Prime Minister His Excellency, Hailemariam Desalegn, the workers at Arvind Apparel factory, as a token of their gratitude towards the government’s efforts to boost employment and industrialization, presented him with a shirt that was made in the factory.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Belachew, Deputy Commissioner of Ethiopian Investment Commission said, “The Government of Ethiopia is committed to promoting global investments into the country to boost economic growth and employment for our people. India and Ethiopia have always shared the warmest of relations and I am happy that one of India’s leading companies, Arvind has set up base here. I am sure that it will find the economic climate in Ethiopia conducive to business.”
“We are very grateful to the Ethiopian government for all that it has done to facilitate our investments in the country. Ethiopia is at an exciting stage of its economic growth and we see our investments in this country giving us several strategic advantages. We are firmly committed to partnering with the Ethiopian government and the people of this great nation in their march towards economic prosperity,” Sanjay Lalbhai, Chairman, Arvind Limited, said.
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