The African Sourcing and Fashion Week, main trade show of Africa for cotton, textile, apparel, home and technology industries organized by Trade and Fairs East Africa and Messe Frankfurt kicked off in Ethiopia on Tuesday which gathered some 230 international producers and exporters from 25 countries.

According to the organizers, the exhibitors are drawn from countries such as Turkey, the United Arabic Emirates, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Italy, Germany and the host nation Ethiopia.

The 4-day event, as part of its opening day program, evaluated Ethiopia's Hawassa industrial park, in which panelists indicated the industrial zone as a "model of sustainability" in Africa's textile and garment industry sector. Digital sourcing was also major discussion topic during the event as a new sourcing opportunity for the African continent and beyond.

The textile and garment industry sector, which represents the lion's share of Ethiopia's growing manufacturing sector, has been given due emphasis in Ethiopia's second five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-II), due effective from 2015 to 2020.

According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Industry, Ethiopia has earned close to 90 million U.S. dollars from the textile and garment sector during the just concluded Ethiopian 2016/2017 fiscal year, largely from industries installed in newly built industrial parks across the country such as the Chinese-built Hawassa industrial park.

At the trade show, among the variety of products showcased includes apparel fabrics, leather goods, fashion and fashionable accessories. Home and household textile providers are also among exhibitors as part of the event.

The trade show will last toward Friday which is held in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.