Turkish State Minister for foreign trade Zafer Caglayan attended the ground-breaking ceremony of new facilities of a Turkish company in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Thursday.
Turkish AYKA Addis factory, established on 120,000 square meters, is the biggest textile factory of Africa. The factory will have a total of 200 million USD of investment after the new facility is completed. Currently employing 4,600 people, the factory will increase its number of personnel to 10,000 with the new facility.
Caglayan said that garment was a very important sector for Turkey, Caglayan said that the sector was merely a source of employment both for Turkey and Ethiopia.
He said that AYKA targeted an export figure of 75 million USD in 2012, and 100 million USD in 2013. He added that this figure showed that Turkey would have a great contribution to Ethiopia’s export target which was set as ten billion USD.
Noting that Turkey would open a foreign trade center in Addis Ababa soon, Caglayan said that Turkish businessmen would make their jobs easier under the coordination of businessmen association and Turkish embassy.
AYKA Addis Executive Board Chairman Yusuf Aydeniz said that they exported products worth of 3.7 million USD since the beginning of 2011, adding that their export figure in 2010 was 18 million USD.
We plan to increase our export to 50 million USD this year, 75 million USD next year, and 100 million USD in 2013, he said.
Caglayan and accompanying delegation also visited a Turkish school in Addis Ababa. Students from 23 nations are studying in the school.