Photo taken on Dec. 8, 2018 shows Jimma Industrial park in Jima, Ethiopia. Ethiopia on Saturday inaugurated the Chinese-built Jimma Industry Park, in western Ethiopia's Jimma town some 350 km west of the capital Addis Ababa. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

DIRE DAWA, Ethiopia, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Construction of Ethiopia's Dire Dawa Industrial Park is nearing completion, says the project's Chinese contractor.

"Works at the Dire Dawa Industrial Park are nearly finished," Wang Kun, project manager of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), told Xinhua. "As it stands, close to 97 percent of the work has been completed, with only remaining water treatment and landscaping works."

According to the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), the 158 million U.S. dollar Dire Dawa Industrial Park is expected to host investors from such sectors as heavy industries, textile and apparel, vehicle assembly, food processing, electronics, and chemicals.

The government expects the industrial park, when operational, will create direct and indirect job opportunities for close to 40,000 Ethiopians.

Wang said construction of the project has already hired more than 7,000 locals.

Prior to the Dire Dawa project, the CCECC also built Ethiopia's Adama Industrial Park, which was recently inaugurated, and the country's flagship Hawassa Industrial Park, which was considered by the Ethiopian government as "a model industrial park."