The project, which is a collaboration between the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), intends to address challenges at a global level and endorse the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for African and Asian countries in the textile sector. The initiative mainly focuses on Chinese investors and their Ethiopian business partners in the Ethiopian textile and garment industry.

Ethiopia, China, and Germany have pledged to increase their cooperation regarding the promotion of the social, labour, and environmental standards in the textile sector of Ethiopia. Representatives of these countries endorsed their commitment towards the ‘Sustainable Textile Investment and Operation in Ethiopia’ project at a conference in Addis Ababa.

“So far, China is one of the biggest investors in the textile sector in Ethiopia, with a total of about $450 million. We have over 30 Chinese textile companies in Ethiopia,” Zhao Zhiyuan, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, was quoted as saying at the conference according to various Chinese media reports.

The agreement between the three nations took place at the two-day conference held at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, recently. The conference aimed to foster sustainable textile industry development and increase awareness of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework among all key players in the textile industry in Ethiopia.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)