Office for Social Responsibility of China National Textile and Apparel Council

On January 17, 2023, the third political committee guidance meeting was held for the trilateral cooperation project "Sustainable Investment and Operation in the Ethiopian Textile Industry" between China, Germany, and Ethiopia. Representatives from the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany attended the meeting, listened to the project results report, and gave guidance speeches.

As one of the project execution units, the China National Textile And Apparel Council has contributed an important force to the smooth progress of the project. Chen Dapeng, Vice President of the China National Textile And Apparel Council, and Yan Yan, Director of the Office for the Social Responsibility of CNTAC attended the meeting.

Chen Dapeng, Vice President of the China National Textile And Apparel Council, delivered an opening speech on behalf of the Chinese executing unit, expressing gratitude to all stakeholders involved in the project, especially to the government departments of China, Germany, and Ethiopia for their trust, and expressing sincere expectations for the sustainable development of China's textile and clothing industry overseas.

Currently, the project has achieved many beneficial results. "We see that the primary feature of this project is its focus," said Geng Linlin, Deputy Director of the International Economic and Trade Relations Department of the Ministry of Commerce of China, who highly praised the project results. She believes that focusing on sustainable development capacity enhancement projects for a country or industry has brought tangible changes and improvements to the industry. “The second is collaboration.” During the project, the China National Textile And Apparel Council leveraged the platform advantages of industry organizations and extensively contacted Chinese enterprises investing and operating in Ethiopia. Relying on the resources of various cooperative units such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Ethiopian Manufacturing Industry Development Research Institute, giving full play to the synergistic effect of "1+1>2", conducted a solid investigation and put forward practical suggestions and measures. “The third is empowerment.” We have seen the project's empowerment of the industry, enterprises, and the public, especially the high attention paid to female employees. Geng Linlin also emphasized that the project's efforts in promoting female employees' employment, assisting their career development, and improving their job satisfaction have significant social significance and sustainable development value.

At the meeting, Zhejiang Mina Textile Co., Ltd. spoke on behalf of a Chinese enterprise. In June 2022, 8 Chinese textile and clothing enterprises operating in Ethiopia, including Zhejiang Mina, established the "China (Ethiopia) Textile and Light Industry Enterprise Sustainable Development Alliance (ACES)," committed to mobilizing a wider range of stakeholders to jointly promote the sustainable development of Ethiopia's textile and light industry. The representative of the enterprise made an appeal on the four most concerning issues of the enterprise, hoping to attract the common concern of stakeholders such as the Ethiopian government. Firstly, simplify the administrative approval process, improve the efficiency of administrative approval, and free up time for production in enterprises.Secondly, it is hoped that relevant government departments will pay more attention to the voices of enterprises and provide serious responses and answers to their questions. Thirdly, Chinese enterprises come to Ethiopia with the greatest goodwill and look forward to integrating with the local community. We hope that the Ethiopian government and residents will not comment negatively about all foreign-funded enterprises due to individual violations of regulations; Finally, we look forward to more brands and customers visiting the company for inspection and research. Seeing is believing, rather than relying solely on third-party results such as factory inspections and ratings, to understand the company.

The meeting also discussed plans to further enhance the sustainable development capacity of Ethiopia's textile industry in the later stage of the project. It proposed clear work concepts and implementation paths.

Background Introduction
In July 2019, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation. At the government level, the three countries agreed on promoting the sustainable development of Ethiopia's textile and clothing industry. In September 2020, the project "Sustainable Investment and Operation of the Ethiopian Textile Industry" was officially launched, funded by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, and implemented with the support of the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Industry. The China National Textile And Apparel Council (CNTAC), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ), and the Ethiopian Manufacturing Development Research Institute (EMIDI) serve as joint executing agencies. The project went through more than two years and was officially completed in November 2022.