雷怡安

Ethiopia： shifting from agriculture to industry

从多个权威网站得到的消息显示：埃塞俄比亚，一个有着3000多年历史的文明古国，长期带着“世界最不发达国家”之一的标签，经济以农牧业为主，工业基础薄弱。

然而就在几年间，这个以农业为主要生产方式的国家却迎来了电气化和工业化的双重加持，“东方工业园”“阿瓦萨工业园”“克林图工业园”等中埃合作的工业园区在其中起着举足轻重的作用。2017年，埃塞更获得“吸收制造业外国直接投资非洲排名第一”的殊荣，这份殊荣是中国和埃塞互联互通，合作共赢的成果。

在当地提格雷语中，亚的斯亚贝巴意为“新鲜的花朵”。这朵开在“非洲屋脊”上的花朵已不仅仅依赖于自然资源的滋养，随着“一带一路”倡议的落地落实，一个又一个工业园区的落成，正让其更加茁壮。

杜卡姆镇距首都仅30公里，在许多人眼里，这里从曾经的荒芜到如今的繁华，就是一个奇迹的诞生，而奇迹的源头来自于一个工业园的建立。东方工业园管委会副主任焦永顺亲眼见证了这一切：几年前，这里一片荒凉，别说车辆，就是人影都几乎见不着。而现在宽敞平整的公路已建好，的土穿梭往来，园区外开了很多家小饭馆，生意火爆。

见证奇迹的还有工业园里的埃塞员工。阿勒玛耶胡就职于力帆汽车集团，5年前刚大学毕业的他跟着中国师傅学习汽车组装。现在他已升任为生产经理，熟悉生产线上每一道工序，指导员工进行操作。他说：“在这家公司我学到了很多知识，让自己得到了改变、家庭有了改变，也看到了国家的改变。”

回顾园区建立之初，这里并未受到埃塞政府的重视，各种政策都不到位，这令来投资兴业的人大跌眼镜。但作为中国著名的民营汽车集团，力帆汽车还是决定扎根于此，闯一闯。这种闯劲儿并非盲目蛮干，力帆综合考察了埃塞的经济发展情况，发现该国汽车基本依靠进口，急需内部造血。再加上两国政府在政策上的不断沟通，埃塞政府还特别到中国园区实地考察，明确了对工业园区的支持，力度越来越大，成效也越来越显著。

自2014年入驻东方工业园至今，力帆汽车已在当地用户中获得很好的口碑，力帆牌出租车随处可见。而埃塞更是成为了力帆汽车在海外的重要基地，也是力帆投资非洲力度最大的市场。曾来力帆参观的苏丹拉卜伊兹研究中心主任阿巴斯·易卜拉欣说：“产能5000台车的生产线让人印象深刻，如果不是亲眼所见，我很难相信在埃塞俄比亚还能有这样的汽车组装工厂。它为非洲带来的不仅仅是一辆辆汽车，更是产业、技术的升级，是发展的希望，在这里我看到了非洲发展的未来！”

除了东方工业园的顺利开园运营，在埃塞政府第二个“增长与转型”5年计划中，还有14个工业园区陆续在2015年至2019年建设。

2017年6月20日，有着“9个月建成”“零排放承诺”的阿瓦萨工业园正式开园。这座占地130公顷的工业园区别于东方工业园的民营性质，它是一座完全由埃塞政府主导、中国土木工程集团埃塞公司承建的园区。同年，克林图工业园第二期项目建设也正式开工，建成后将成为埃塞境内最大的工业园项目。

在工业园合作之初，建设进展非常缓慢，为了让埃塞政府能更清楚了解园区的规划建设，中方将他们请到了中国苏州、常州、昆山等地，实地了解工业园的建设情况。考察结束，埃塞政府增长了信心，由总理牵头成立了工业筹划委员会和技术指导委员会，每3个月开一次会，来解决园区发展的问题。

同时，最早开园的东方工业园开启了“一站式服务”流程，清关、办工作许可、免税业务等，都可以在园区内完成。甚至在园区建立了变电站，保证电力的供应。

东方工业园董事长卢其忠是园区创始人。2006年他来埃塞考察建水泥厂，恰逢中国商务部正进行境外经贸合作区招标，符合条件的境外园区将获资金支持。于是，卢其忠当即决定，干脆就在埃塞做个工业园。但建立之初，困难重重。卢其忠说：“东方工业园一期工程总投入了2亿美元，大部分都是自己的资金，由于入园企业无法与工业园办理土地分割，因此企业到园区兴业投资异常艰难。最艰难的时候甚至要变卖国内资产来支撑。”

得益于中埃两国政府的通力合作，以及埃塞政府对工业园的认识不断加深，卢其忠的产业园终于看到了希望。2012年，时任埃塞总理梅莱斯通过行政命令，给入园企业办理了土地证。经过3年的不懈努力，到2015年4月，埃塞政府出台首部《工业园法》，彻底解决了这一问题。

走进坐落于东方工业园里的华坚鞋厂厂区，可以看到数千名当地员工身着制服在六条生产线上忙碌，为一双双女鞋剪裁、缝纫、拉底、定型。截至2018年8月，华坚鞋厂累计出口超过1亿美元，解决了当地7000人就业，其中残疾人员工28人。

作为最早入驻工业园的民营企业，华坚鞋厂可谓是中国民营企业走出去的典范。在2017年4月底的博鳌亚洲论坛上，经济学家林毅夫给予了华坚鞋厂高度评价，“非常成功，埃塞因为这家工厂，改变了在国际上的影响。”

在园区另一家来自中国的骨干企业江苏利达牛仔裤厂里，数百名埃塞工人身着整洁的工作服在生产线上忙碌着，从裁剪、染色到装箱，每个步骤都一丝不苟。总经理汪涛说：“埃塞人力資本优势和电价优势是我们来投资的重要原因。我们的牛仔裤凭借着优异的质量和时尚的设计得到了越来越多埃塞人的认可。工人们不仅学会了一技之长，收入也比当地一般企业多出50%左右。”汪涛还介绍，现在开始出现了“跳槽”现象，“这正反映出我们带来的积极变化。工人掌握了更多的劳动技能，有了更多的经验，才有机会‘跳槽’。”

幾年来，工业园已经为埃塞带来了天翻地覆的变化。从农业国升级为工业国，这不仅是埃塞国民生活的彻底变迁，更是发展道路上难得的腾飞机遇。

Sources from several authoritative websites showthat Ethiopia， an ancient civilization with ahistory of more than 3，000 years， is one of the leastdeveloped countries in the world. Agriculture andanimal husbandry are the backbone of this country'seconomy， while the industrial foundation is relativelyweak.

Over the past years， however， this country withagriculture as its main pillar has witnessed remarkabledevelopment in electrification and industrialization.This is attributed to the establishment of China-Ethiopia industrial parks to some extent， such as"Eastem Industry Zone"， "Hawassa Industrial Park"，and "Kilinto Industrial Park". In 2017， Ethiopiaeven ranked No. 1 for the foreign direct investment（FDI） in manufacturing among African countries，which was due to the interconnectivity and win-wincooperation between China and Etlriopia.

A miracle happened in the desert

In Tigre language， Addis Ababa means "freshflowers". Now， these "flowers" blooming on the "roofof Africa'： have not only relied on the unique naturalresources in Africa， but also been nourished byvarious industrial parks which spring up as the Beltand Road Initiative is put in place.

Dukem Town is 30 kilometers away from AddisAbaba， capital of Ethiopia. Once a barren place，Dukem now enjoys great prosperity. Many people seethis transition as a miracle， which originated from theestablishment of the industrial park. Jiao Yongshun，deputy director of the administrative committeeof the Eastem Industry Zone， witnessed the robustdevelopment of the park. He said， "just a few yearsago it was a desolate place， where even people couldhardly be seen， not to mention a car." But now inthe park， a patchwork of spacious and smooth roadshas taken shape， on which taxis are shuttling backand forth. Rows of restaurants outside the park haveopened with booming businesses.

Ethiopian employees in the industrial park arealso the witnesses of the miracle. Five years ago，Alemayehu began to learn car assembly from hisChinese master after graduating from college. Nowhe has been promoted as production manager of LifanGroup. Familiar with every process on the productionline， he is now also an operating instructor. He said："I have learned a lot in this company. I have seenpositive changes not only in myself and my family，but also in the whole country."

When the park was just established， thegovernment of Ethiopia did not attach importanceto it， and was not ready to roll out various favorablepolicies for it， which discouraged many potentialinvestors' enthusiasm. However， Lifan Group， awell-known Chinese private-owned car maker， wasdeternuned to take root here and resolutely embarkon a venture. The decision Lifan Group made is notreckless. Through comprehensive investigationsof Ethiopia's economic development， LifanGroup learned that in Ethiopia cars were basicallyimported by then and the country was badly inneed of domestic auto manufacturing. In addition，the Ethiopian government showed its resolutionto support the industrial parks， after carrying outcontinuous communications on related policies withChinese counterparts and especially visiting manyindustrial parks in China. These increasing effortshave led to remarkable results.

Since settling in Eastem Industry Zone in 2014，Lifan motors have gained a good reputation amonglocal users， and Lifan taxis can be seen everywhere inthe country. More importantly， Ethiopia has becomean important overseas base for Lifan Group as well asthe largest investment market for the group in Africa.Abass Ibrahim， director of Rakaiz Al-marifahforResearch & Studies， Sudan， who visited Lifan Group，said， "the production line with a capacity to produce5，000 cars is impressive. If I hadn't seen it with myown eyes， it would be hard for me to believe thatthere is such a car assembly factory in Ethiopia.What it brings to Africa is not only cars， but alsothe upgrading of industry and technology as well asthe hope for development. Here I see the future ofAfrica's development."

Close cooperation brings more chances

Apart from Eastern Industry Zone， the Ethiopiangovernment begins to build another 14 industrialparks under its Growth and Transformation Plan II（GTPII） during 2015 and 2019.

On June 20， 2017， Hawassa Industrial Park，featuring "completion with nine months" and "zeroemission commitment"， officially opened. This130-hectare industrial park is different from theprivate-owned Eastem Industry Zone， for it is entirelyfunded by the Etluopian government and built byCCECC Ethiopia Construction Private limitedCompany. In the same year， the construction of thephase II of Kilinto Industrial Park kicked off， thelargest industrial park under construction in Ethiopia.

At the beginning of cooperation， both sidesdid not see rapid progress in the construction ofthe industrial park. In order to help the Etluopiangovernment get a full picture of the planning andconstruction of the industrial park， Chinese sideinvited Ethiopian officials to visit industrial parksin Suzhou， Changzhou， Kunshan and other cities.The investigation boosted the confidence of theEthiopian government. As a result， the prime nunisterof Etluopia has led establishment of the IndustrialPlanning Committee and the Technical SteeringCommittee. Every three months， these committeeshold meetings to solve problems facing thedevelopment of the park.

Meanwhile， the Eastern Industry Zone haslaunched a "one-stop service" process， with whichcustoms clearance， work permits and duty-freebusiness can all be completed in the park. In addition，to ensure the supply of electricity the substationshave been established in the park.

Lu Qizhong， president of the Eastern IndustryZone， is also the founder of the park. In 2006， hecame to Ethiopia to inspect the construction ofa cement plant， during which China's Ministryof Commerce called for the bidding of overseaseconomic and trade cooperation zones， claiming thateligible overseas parks will receive financial support.Therefore， Lu Qizhong decided to set up an industrialpark in Ethiopia. But at the beginning， many obstacleslied ahead. Lu Qizhong said， "a total of USD 200million has been invested in the first phase of EasternIndustry Zone， most of which is our own funds. Asthe enterprises intending to settle in the park couldnot solve land subdivision with the industrial park， itwas very difficult for them to make investment andstart business in the park. In the toughest moment， weeven had to sell domestic assets to provide funds forthe park."

Thanks to the joint efforts of the Chineseand Ethiopian governments， and as the Etluopiangovernment gained in-depth understanding ofindustrial parks， Lu's industrial park saw hopeeventually. In 2012， then Ethiopian Prime MinsterMeles Zenawi passed an administrative order toissue land certificates to enterprises in the park. Afterthree years of unremitting efforts， the Ethiopiangovernment issued the first industrial park law inApril 2015， which completely solved this problem.Jobs ignite dreams

Entering Huajian shoe factory located in theEastern Industry Zone， you can see thousands oflocal employees dressed in overalls are engaged insix production lines， cutting， sewing， sole pullingand shaping pairs of women's shoes. By the end ofAugust 2018， Huajian had exported products worthmore than USD 100 nullion， and provided 7，000jobs for local communities， including 28 disabledemployees.

Among the first batch of private-ownedenterprises entering the industrial park， Huajianshoe factory serves as a model for Chinese privateenterprises to go global. At the Boao Forum for Asiaheld at the end of April 2017， economist Justin YifuLin spoke highly of the factory saying： "the successof Huajian Group in Ethiopia has exerted a globalinfluence."

At Jiangsu Lida Textiles Jean Factory，established by another key Chinese enterprise inthe park， hundreds of Ethiopian workers dressedin neat overalls was busy on the production lines，meticulously in every procedure from cutting，dyeing to packing. Wang Tao， general manager ofthe enterprise， said， "Ethiopia's cheap labor andelectricity price are important factors attracting us toinvest in the park. Our jeans， featuring high-qualityand fashionable design， are recognized by more andmore Ethiopians. Our workers can not only masterprofessional skills， but also earn about 50% morethan in local enterprises." Wang Tao also noted that a"job hopping" phenomenon appears now. "It nurrorsthe positive changes we have brought， for only whenworkers have gained more skills and more experiencecan they have the opportunity to 'change jobs'."

Over the past few years， the industrial parkshave brought tremendous changes to Ethiopia.The upgrading of Ethiopia from an agriculturaleconomy to an industrial one not only transformsthe life of Ethiopian people， but also provides arare opportunity for the country to take off on thedevelopment path.