Increasing domestic production and substituting imported goods, nearly $5 billion in foreign currency has been saved during the current fiscal year, said Tthe State Minister of Industry of Ethiopia, Mr. Tarekegn Bululta.
The State Minister made the remark to a group of journalists from various local media outlets who visited the activities performed in the manufacturing industry sector. Mr. Tarekegn stated during the occasion that the “Let Ethiopia Produce” (Ethiopia Tamrit) national movement has created high momentum in the manufacturing industry sector.
Due to the special attention given to the sector by the government over the past five years, the production capacity of industries has grown from the previous 46 percent to 66 percent. He noted that the “Let Ethiopia Produce” movement, along with policy revision works carried out to solve bottlenecks in the sector, has made a great contribution to this success.
The State Minister pointed out that beyond making factories that were previously closed for various reasons resume operations, new factories have been built.
Accordingly, by being able to produce domestically, it was possible to save nearly $5 billion that was previously spent on imported products; conversely, he announced that over $289 million in revenue was obtained from manufacturing industry exports.
Mr. Tarekegn stated that work is being carried out with focus to widely involve the private sector in order to ensure the success of the sector sustainably as a country. In connection with this, he explained that the work of implementing modern technological systems will continue in order to resolve observed problems in procedures and service delivery.
