An executive of the operator of the Chinese industrial park in the northwestern Angolan town of Barra do Dande has forecast that enterprises in the park will employ 3,000 people by the middle of next year, Jornal de Angola reports.

The Angolan newspaper quotes Sino-Ord Parque Industrial Lda Manager Vivaldo Ramos as saying the US$80 million park already has two factories, together employing about 1,300 people, one making coated glass and shingles, and the other supplying 76,000 boxes of tiles and ceramics per day to wholesale retailers in nearby capital Luanda.

The reports adds that 10 more factories should open there by July next year, the first being a 200-square-metre factory for making cardboard for packaging the products of the ceramics factory.

The Angolan Investment and Export Promotion Agency is considering a proposal to set up a soft-drinks factory in the park in Bengo province, Jornal de Angola says.