Ethiopian Review

Addis Ababa – Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi inaugurated on Sunday the first ever glass manufacturing industry established in Ethiopia at accost of 35 million US dollars.

At the inaugural ceremony, Meles said development cooperation between Ethiopia and China has been growing right after the downfall of the former Ethiopian dictatorial regime.

Meles said Chinese companies operating in Ethiopia as well as the status of on-going Ethio-China cooperation clear testimonial for China’s firm determination toward Ethiopia’s development in particular and that of other African countries in general.

The new glass factory, which is jointly established by CGO Co. Group Ltd. and China Africa Development Fund, has a capacity of producing 42,000 metric tons of quality sheet glass per annum.

The establishment of the first glass factory in Ethiopia indicated that the China-Africa relation has reached to a higher level at present than ever before, Meles said.

Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Gu Xiaojie said on his part that the factory is the first investment project in Africa, which is funded by China-Africa Development Fund (CAD-Fund).

The inauguration of the factory is a significant event in Sino-Ethiopian cooperation, and is also one of the concrete outcomes of Chinese policy measures toward Africa’s development, which was announced by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the 2006 Beijing Summit, the ambassador said.

The ambassador commends the Ethiopian government for its measures taken toward reversing the possible challenges the country may face as a result of the current global economic and financial crises.

The existing sustainable economic development in Ethiopia has created opportunities toward strengthening the Sino-Ethiopia cooperation, according to the ambassador.

The establishment of the factory will enable Ethiopia create lots of job opportunities to citizens besides boosting its annual foreign currency earnings.

- ENA