In a few weeks, Japanese leather producing factory Hiroki Co. Ltd. is poised to start production at its Ethiopia plant of leather garments, bags, wallets and shoes for export to the Japanese market, according to Fortune.
With an investment of nearly 10 million birr (about £320,000), Hiroki established the Hiroki Addis Manufacturing S.C. in September 2013 in Alemgena town in the Oromia region, which is about 25 km from Addis Ababa.
"We decided to open a factory in Ethiopia because of the availability of quality leather raw material," said Youngil Song, president of Hiroki Addis. "It is one of the finest leather in the world."
The factory, with an initial 30-person workforce, will target an annual production of 1,300 pairs of leather garments, 8,000 bags, 3,600 wallets and 7,000 shoes during its first year of production. From there, it plans to grow to 100 employees by 2017 when it moves production to the Bole Lemi Industrial Zone.
