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ADDIS ABABA, June 18-- As part of its vision to become the manufacturing hub of Africa, Ethiopia will on Tuesday inaugurate the first phase of its flagship Chinese-built Hawassa Industrial Park. The industrial park is said to be the first Sustainable Textile and Apparel Industrial park in the African continent with state-of-the-art infrastructural capacity. It is one of the many projects in Ethiopia commissioned by Chinese companies that are engaged in various activities ranging from building industrial parks, setting up factories, constructing railway and other infrastructures. Built by China Civil Engineering Corporation (CCECC), the Hawassa industrial park located in Hawassa city some 275 km south of the capital Addis Ababa was initially completed in a record time of nine months back in July 2016. Arkebe Oqubay, Special Advisor to the Ethiopian Prime Minster, speaking in connection with the inaugural ceremony to be held on Tuesday, said that the park would be considered as a model for other industrial parks under construction in the east African country. He said that the development of sustainable, world class specialized, export-driven and competitive industrial parks is the major target of Ethiopia so as to realize its vision towards economic development and become the manufacturing hub of the African continent. In addition to the Hawassa industrial park, the east African country has further embarked on the development of similar other industrial zones in Kombolcha, Mekele, Kilinto, Bole Lemmi II, Dire Dawa and Adama among others, of which Mekele and Kombolcha industrial parks to be inaugurated soon. | 
