On Jan 18, the contracts of five projects worth a total of $43.8 million, were signed off during a promotional event in Changsha county. The five projects will be directly related to Ethiopia-Hunan Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park that is set to begin operations later this year.

Among the celebrated attendees were Xu Xiangping, head of Hunan Provincial Department of Commerce, Zeng Chaoqun, Party chief of Changsha county and various other government leaders.

The five projects which will cover a large variety of fields such as food, embroidery, construction material and agricultural manufacturing, are expected upon completion to yield an annual value of $100 million in production. Otherwise, it is hoped that the contract's signing will motivate more Hunan firms to expand into overseas markets.

"Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone and Changsha County have actively participated in the national strategy of Made in China 2025 and the Belt and Road Initiative," said Zeng in his speech, adding that Changsha county is enhancing construction of a platform for local enterprises to go out and reinforcing economic and trade ties with ASEAN countries.

Statistics show that in 2017, the Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone recorded a total foreign trade value of $4.55 billion; a staggering 42.6 percent increase in just one year has also allowed the zone to account for 12.5 percent of the total provincial value.

What more is that the industrial showcases Hunan province's ambitions and adherence to the Belt and Road initiative, as it is the only industrial manufacturing cooperation park in Africa to be provincially backed.

A total of 16 internationally competitive enterprises based in Hunan, such as Sany Heavy Industry and Hunan Lingxin Unite Electric Power Steel Structure Co, have accelerated their overseas expansion and signed on to enter the park.

Preparations are now underway for the construction of the industrial park, which is scheduled to begin November this year. The project will be a great platform for Changsha's enterprises to enter the Ethiopian market.