State Minister Tarekegn Bululta, Ministry of Industry 
Members of the public and private sectors, 
Distinguished guests,  
Colleagues from the UN,  
Ladies and gentlemen,
All protocols observed. 

Let me start by extending a heartfelt welcome to all of you to this thought-provoking dialogue about Ethiopia's potential as a manufacturing powerhouse.

The manufacturing sector has been a focal point for Ethiopia, with several interventions over the past 20 years, including the establishment of industrial and agro-industrial parks. This sector has the potential to contribute to the country's structural transformation, generate foreign exchange, create jobs for the millions of youth who enter the labour market every year, promote local SMEs, and produce for export and import substitution.

UNDP analysis acknowledges the progress Ethiopia has made over the past two decades. However, our working paper, which will be presented shortly, argues that this progress has not yet translated into a meaningful structural transformation in the economy. UNDP also proposes policy options for Ethiopian policymakers to consider. The UNDP analysis shows that the country has considerable potential to export USD 10 billion in goods by 2030.

Let me take a moment here to warmly thank the Ministry of Industry, industrial park managers in Hawassa and Mekelle, the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce for supporting UNDP as our economists researched and wrote our latest working paper.  

Ladies and gentlemen,
The manufacturing sector is linked to a country’s commitment to deliver across the various Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, also commonly referred to as Agenda 2030.

I cannot think of any SDG that the manufacturing sector will not impact, for better or worse. For example, a robust manufacturing sector can help a country tackle poverty; it can help families put food on the table, afford better healthcare and send children to schools; It can also empower women to earn more and thus have agency over their lives; It also allows communities to have the resources to reinvest in clean water and sanitation. But manufacturing also places countries with challenges, or to put it more optimistically, explores innovative solutions to how countries can produce and consume responsibly.

Another challenge, especially when we want to use the manufacturing sector to create more jobs, especially for women, is to ensure that these jobs are ‘decent jobs’. Our commitment to gender equality must go beyond mere numbers of those employed and critically look at the quality of the jobs created. Women are a backbone of the industrial parks.

We are also challenged to commit to addressing the need for green manufacturing.

And on that last point, let me say that in the last few days, I was just at the COP 28 Summit in Dubai, our global climate event, so the impact of the manufacturing sector on climate change and vice versa is also on my mind.

I look forward to your dialogue on this and other aspects of the manufacturing sector environment that continues to impact the globe and sometimes acts as a challenge to unleashing the potential of developing countries.  

Today, we will be discussing how Ethiopia can design its path while learning from others, especially by exploiting South-South learning. Our keynote speakers from Bangladesh and Kenya will highlight this aspect.

In conclusion, I hope the conference will stimulate policy debate and contribute to a meaningful discourse on how Ethiopia can use its manufacturing ambition to accelerate an economic structural transformation that will result in positive human development outcomes. At the end of the day, the litmus taste of Ethiopia’s development investments will be reflected in human development.

Thank you for your attention.

*Read the press release on the Annual Development Conference 2023