Prime Minister Hailemariam opened the 6th All Africa Leather Fair (AALF 20123) on Wednesday this week. Speaking at the opening, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia had not been benefitting from its huge livestock resource fully since it had been exporting raw skins and hides rather than value added products for a long time.

Now, however, the government had put in place policies and strategies to enable the sector become globally competitive through export of value added products, and it anticipated getting US$500 million from the sector by 2015, he said.

The event has attracted representatives from over twenty countries, with participation of nearly fifty companies involved in chemical supplies, leather machinery, accessories, footwear and technology, and buyers and sellers of leather and leather products.