The government is doing its level best to ensure the manufacturing industry flexing its muscles and the economy is undergoing a structural adjustment in such a way the industry is going to take the driver’s seat of the economy. Industry State Minister Tadesse Haile so remarked in an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald.
He noted the government leaves no stone unturned in ensuring sustainable growth in the country mindful of the fact that one of the sectors that will dynamize growth in the economy would be manufacturing . For instance, the establishment of industrial parks will attract more manufacturing industries. This is one way, via which, the government is trying to encourage the sector, he added.
The industry, as we all know, has been growing of course as a reflection of the entire nation’s economic development. Ethiopia is portraying a very fast growth, which tells on the fact that its industry is parallely and equally growing. But most of the reasons for the growth is attributable to agriculture and other sectors.
The contribution of the industry has been growing by 20 per cent according to the plan anticipated in the GTP. But, he said, still most of the growth of the industry is coming from the growth in the construction sector not from manufacturing.
Manufacturing has not moved ahead very much. But it is expected to surge fast from now onwards because if the government has to really create structural transformation, the role of the manufacturing industry will be of paramount importance, Tadesse explained.
According to him, the manufacturing sector will have a big role in restructuring the economy.
“There is growth in the industry but the growth has not yet created structural transformation. In order to create structural transformation the industry has to have a leading role. Similarly, the manufacturing sector has to grow very fast. The move has kick-started already but has not created the expected structural transformation. Therefore, to be able to create transformation we need to encourage the manufacturing industry to pick up swift,” he further noted.
During GTP II the government expects the manufacturing sector to grow double-fold. Now the contribution of the manufacturing is about five to six per cent so the government wants to see manufacturing contributing 12 per cent to the economy, he added.
Asked about the existing challenges in the sector he said, “We have to be constant in creating a conducive environment for the manufacturing sector to beef up its muscle. We have to work on infrastructural development. We have to work on human resource development, availing dependable and reliable power supply, road, railway infrastructure, construction of industrial parks. The confluence of these factors really help manufacturing to grow fast.”