ACIMIT has high hopes for new Ethiopian partnership
A partnership between the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers ACIMIT and Ethiopian consulting firm BCaD Consulting Management is now in effect, and ACIMIT hopes the alliance will help to promote Italian textile technology in Ethiopia.
“The agreement with BCaD will allow us to consolidate a constant presence in a country that represents a new frontier for the textile sector,” says Raffaella Carabelli, president of ACIMIT.
“The recent institutional mission undertaken by the association and coordinated by the ICE (the Italian trade agency for the promotion and the internationalisation of Italian companies) as well as the Italian embassy, has allowed us to ascertain the Ethiopian government’s strong commitment towards developing its textile industry, long considered a strategic sector, providing it with suitable technology means to meet the challenges of global competition.”
Italian exports to Ethiopia are not hugely substantial, totalling around €2 million (€2.7 million) in 2012, but there has been continued growth in recent years.
“We are confident that the contact point developed with our Ethiopian partner will serve to allow people to get a better idea of just what our machinery manufacturers can offer the locale textile sector in terms of technology and experience shared with textile producers with a high level of potential,” continues Mr Carabelli.
ACIMIT represents a textile sector that comprises approximately 300 manufacturers and employs close to 12,000 people. It produces textile machinery worth approximately €2.4 billion, 80% of which is exported.
