Fu Xuming, secretary of the CPC Working Committee of the Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone and secretary of the CPC Changsha County Committee, holds talks with Ethiopian Ambassador to China Teshome Toga Chanaka and his delegation. (Photo/Jiang Lian)

The Hunan-Ethiopia Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Conference kicked off in the Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone on July 27. An Ethiopian investment environment promotion conference was held simultaneously. During the conference, Ethiopia promoted its investment environment.

In Ethiopia, the Ethiopia-Hunan Industrial Park is being built. It is China's only industrial manufacturing cooperation park promoted by a provincial government in Africa. The operation of the industrial park is led by the Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone and participated by the Ethiopia Industrial Park Development Company and the CGCOC Group. The operation work includes investment attraction, operation and management, and building a one-stop service center.

The industrial park is planned to locate in Adama City, Oromia Region, the core area of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Economic Belt in Ethiopia. Its industries will be dominated by machinery manufacturing, building materials and construction engineering, furniture and household appliances, textile and clothing. Since the implementation of the project six years ago, the relevant parties have invested a lot of manpower, materials and financial resources. Twelve Hunan enterprises have signed agreements of intent to enter the industrial park.

Ethiopian Ambassador to China Teshome Toga Chanaka said that, Ethiopia and China enjoy high-level political mutual trust and rich cooperation mechanisms, including the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Initiative of Peaceful Development in the Horn of Africa. The Ethiopian government attaches great importance to the Ethiopia-Hunan Industrial Park. Situated along the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, the industrial park has incomparable geographical advantages. It is an important project for Ethiopia to build the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Economic Corridor, and can provide good conditions for enterprise investment.

Ambassador Teshome Toga Chanaka noted that the Ethiopia-Hunan Industrial Park will provide development opportunities for more enterprises. He hoped that the industrial park will have more investors in agriculture, manufacturing, medicine, chemical industry, mining, digital economy and other fields.

Ethiopia has exported coffee, soybeans and other high-quality agricultural products to Hunan. However, Ambassador Teshome Toga Chanaka believed that the volume of imports and exports is not large enough, and that there are still vast opportunities for investment in Ethiopia.

On the same day, Fu Xuming, secretary of the CPC Working Committee of the Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone and secretary of the CPC Changsha County Committee, held talks with Ambassador Teshome Toga Chanaka and his delegation. Both sides expressed the hope to jointly push for the early completion of the Ethiopia-Hunan Industrial Park, promote economic cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and deepen friendship.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Kuang Zhenzhen

Chinese source: chinanews