Asossa — The Land and Sea Development-Ethiopia, a company aspiring to jointly undertake bamboo development in Benshangul-Gumz State with a capital of 136 million USD has reportedly secured land.

Company Founder and President Michael Gebru said the company would jointly work with three respected Indian companies for the development of bamboo and produces.

According to him, the companies were given 494,000 hectares of land last week in order to cultivate bamboo and later establish a paper mill.

The activities of the companies are divided into three phases, the first of which would be planting exotic bamboo species that could be developed in a short period of time, the second phase being the export of bamboo. The final phase of the project would be the establishment of a paper mill that utilizes the plant as raw material, Michael explained.

Upon going operational, the project would export up to 500,000 metric tons of bamboo for export. Close to 2,000 citizens will also get jobs, he added.

He said construction work will fully start within the coming nine months.