ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia aims to speed up exports from Chinese built industrial parks under a new logistics venture, an Ethiopian official said on Wednesday.
Speaking to Xinhua, Asrat Begashaw, Head of Public Relations at Ethiopian Airlines (ET), said a joint venture formed between ET and Dalsey Hillblom Lynn (DHL) Global will start transporting export goods from the Hawassa and Kombolcha Industrial parks in the coming days.
ET and DHL signed a joint venture agreement in July 2018, to help boost Ethiopia's logistics capacity. ET has a majority stake in the joint venture.
The joint venture will also operate in Addis Ababa Bole International airport, Bole Lemi Industrial Park located on the outskirts of Addis Ababa and Modjo dry port.
Ethiopia's flagship Hawassa Industrial Park, was built and commissioned in July 2016 by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) in July 2016. Kombolcha Industrial Park was similarly built and commissioned in July 2017 by CCECC.
"Under the ET-DHL venture export goods from Kombolcha and Hawassa Industrial Parks will be efficiently and speedily transported from factories up to Djibouti port where the goods are loaded on to their final export destinations," said Begashaw.
The Ethiopian government aims to boost sluggish export revenues by connecting its around a dozen industrial parks to fast, high quality and reliable logistics connectivity to overseas market.
Ethiopia's position as a landlocked east African country has meant that the country has had to incur additional costs in its foreign trade dealings.
In September 2018, Ethiopia partially opened up its logistics sector to foreign companies to make the logistics sector more efficient, professional and modern, with the injection of foreign capital and expertise.
