Improved Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices - next to price and quality of products - are key success factors for competitive textile and apparel industries - that was the key message reflected today at the international conference on triangular cooperation to promote sustainable textile investments and operations in Ethiopia. The Conference was organized by the Ministry of Industry (MoI) of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
In his keynote remarks, the Minister of MoI, Melaku Alebel, said: "In our path to industrialize Ethiopia, the Government is committed to making the sector globally competitive and bringing the necessary structural transformation to the textile sector for a better partnership among Ethiopian textile industries, Chinese businesses, and international brands."
The Minister added, "As the development of the textile and apparel sector accelerates in Ethiopia, the foreign direct investments especially from Chinese enterprises have been taking on a remarkable momentum. It is timely and relevant to create a platform to exchange ESG best practices and foster sustainable environment in the textile sector of Ethiopia."
Ethiopia's favorable investment environment, including lower cost of production and preferential tariff policy has significantly increased the number of Chinese investments in the textile and apparel manufacturing sectors.
"UNIDO is committed to promoting inclusive and sustainable industrial development in Ethiopia," said Aurelia Patrizia Calabrò, UNIDO Representative and Director of the Regional Office Hub in Ethiopia.
Calabrò underlined that UNIDO will continue supporting the Government of Ethiopia and the private sector to promote sustainable textile investment practices. UNIDO will also implement initiatives to increase the supply of quality raw materials, in addition to upgrading the skills of the sector's workforce. Capacity building efforts will also continue to complement the technical cooperation support. Drawing on UNIDO's expertise, the partnership will also look into the improvement in trade logistics.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Heiko Nitzschke, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. and Deputy Head of Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ethiopia, emphasized that Germany is a strong promoter of sustainability standards. In Ethiopia, Germany has been a long-standing partner in the promotion and the creation of decent jobs. Germany has also provided support towards more ecologically friendly textile and garment production. Through its implementing agency GIZ, Germany is contributing to the capacity building of companies to help them make their operations greener and fairer whilst keeping high quality standards.
Chinese invested textile businesses, local suppliers and customers benefit from these capacity building and awareness raising activities related to digital technology to strengthen transparency and traceability, business-to-business interaction to support market development, and policy review support to help promote the textile sector. The Ethiopian textile industry has an opportunity to learn from the knowledge exchange and know-how transfer from China to ensure sustainable production along the textile value chains.
This project, "Sustainable Textile Investment and Operation in Ethiopia" is jointly funded by the Ministry of Commerce, People's Republic of China (MOFCOM) and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI), UNIDO in cooperation with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), and China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC).
The project commenced in July 2020 after a partnership agreement was signed between MOFCOM, MoI and BMZ.
