By Groum Abate, IANS,
Addis Ababa : Paper manufacturer Anmol Products Ethiopia, promoted by India’s Anmol group of companies, Sunday inaugurated its unit at Ginchi, about 80 km south of here.
The development is another feather in India’s efforts to contribute more substantially to Ethiopia’s developmental activities.
The most significant feature of the new paper factory, reportedly built at a cost of $4.8 million, is that it will use waste paper that is usually burnt or thrown away.
In addition to being environment friendly, the unit will be instrumental in creating direct and indirect job opportunities.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Ethiopia’s Minister of Trade and Industry Girma Birru, State Minister for Trade and Industry Ahmed Tusa, outgoing Indian Ambassador Gurjit Singh, senior officials of the zonal administration and members of the Ethiopia-India Parliamentary Friendship Group.
According to ambassador Singh, who was the guest of honour at the inauguration, India is playing a significant part in Ethiopia’s overall development through more than 440 Indian companies in this East African country.
He also appreciated the Ethiopian government’s efforts to create an environment conducive to foreign investment, and added that Indian investments which currently stood at about $4 billion, would touch $10 billion in a few years.
India has already achieved the 2009 export target worth $500 million to Ethiopia, he added.
Singh said products manufactured by Indian companies could also be exported to India, and that the balance of trade between the two countries could become even.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Trade and Industry Girma Birru, who was the chief guest, appreciated the Anmol group for choosing Ginchi to open the paper unit, describing it as one of the first meaningful investments in the area.
According to him, in addition to providing direct employment, the factory would also create hundreds of indirect jobs for people for collecting waste paper material.
The minister said Ethiopia required 70,000 tonnes of paper per year, and with the Ginchi factory expected to produce 15,000 tonnes annually, a substantial portion of the requirement would be manufactured locally.
This, Birru said, would result in saving precious foreign exchange.
Anmol managing director Arvind Sharma said his company had decided to invest in Ethiopia because of the whole-hearted support of the government.