Kombolcha Industrial Park Resumes Operation
ADDIS ABABA – Kombolcha Industrial Park has resumed operation, its CEO announced on Tuesday.
Authorities say the industrial park was one of the targets of the invading TPLF troops’ attack during their occupation of Kombolcha town before its liberation on Dec 6, 2021.
The park opted for a low-profile restart at its 75 hectares complex whose facilities and infrastructures was looted and destroyed by the TPLF – a designated terrorist group in Ethiopia.
Following all-involved rehabilitation efforts, Ahmed Seid, general manager of the KIP, said the park has managed to restart operation in a short period of time in a statement the Ethiopian Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC) issued on Tuesday.
Banking, customs and other sectors in the park have resumed providing services, enabling the park to restart operations.
Currently, workers of manufacturing companies are manufacturing products while others are working round the clock to resume their operation, according to the KIP general manager.
The plan is to resume exporting products made in the park to the international market as soon as possible, he added.
Ahmed said investors operating in the park, abd the support of officials of other industrial parks in the country and the Ethiopian Industrial Parks Development Corporation played key role in getting the KIP back to operation.
Assessment ongoing
Authorities have already set up a team of experts to assess the damages that the park incurred as results of the attack. The CEO of the IPDC Sandokan Debebe, told the Capital Newspaper last week that it has caused a significant damage both in the $94 million park’s facilities and companies operating there.
The park’s facilities and infrastructures were almost completely looted while a variety of product factories which produce both raw materials and finished materials were completely vandalized, said the CEO.
“We will officially announce the weight of these damages after finalizing our comprehensive analysis on the situation,” Sandokan added.
The Kombolcha Industrial Park – located about 380km northeast of Addis Ababa – was inaugurated in 2017 as part of Ethiopia’s economic ambition of transforming itself into the manufacturing powerhouse of Africa.
It has managed to attract various international companies from the US, China, South Korea and Italy, among others, specializing in manufacturing export-oriented textile and garment products.
