The government of Ethiopia said Wednesday the main objective of the current five-year plan is ensuring the sustainability of the double-digit annual growth, registered in the past three years.

Ethiopia's Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a statement that the plan, which is from 1998 to 2002 under the Ethiopian calendar, would enable the country "generate enough foreign currency to finance its industrial development so as to enhance its growth and thereby create employment opportunity and reduce poverty."

The Ethiopian calendar is seven years behind the Gregorian ( Western) calendar.

The statement said industrial and trade strategy, the manufacturing sector development trajectory as well as review of the sectoral main activities under implementation and the results achieved so far are among the points incorporated by the plan.

Indicative targets for limited industrial sub-sectors for the period as well as implementation challenges and solutions have also been elaborated in the plan, it added.

It said it is envisaged "increasing domestic and foreign investment and providing all-round support to private sector in order to strengthen its role in the development endeavor so as to establish a wide industrial base."

This will bring about a structural change and thereby contribute to the improvement of the standard of living of the society, it said, adding that it will also diversify its export products ensuring the sustainability of the export sector.

Moreover, the manufacturing sub-sector, apart from meeting the growing domestic demand, is also expected to be the main source of foreign exchange, the ministry added.

Nevertheless, there are glaring challenges with respect to implementation capacity, it said, adding the five-year plan accords high priority to resolving this critical constraint.

Source: Xinhua