Over the last three months Ethiopia’s earnings from textile and garment exports have been growing.
The growth of the textile industries has triggered the expansion of cotton farming by public, private sector and small scale farmers. Currently, cotton is being farmed on a total of 42,000 hectares of land.

Foreign investment is flowing in thanks to the prevalence of peace and stability, availability of abundant cheap labor, plenty of cheap energy from hydro power and flourishing industrial parks all over the country.

Thanks to the enabling investment environment foreign companies are injecting their money, technology, experience as well as skills into the sector. In addition, foreign investors are encouraged through the provision of various incentives including tax holidays, tax free capital goods imports, custom services provision on the spot and easy access to financial credit.

The world number one US textile industry known as HDM has installed its factory in Hawassa Industrial Park creating 10,000 jobs and expected to create many more jobs in the coming years. Most graduates from technical colleges would benefit from these job opportunities.