The Yokohama-based Japanese leather factory Hiroki has announced a long-term plan to produce leather products in Ethiopia. Hiroki will be the first Japanese company to operate in Ethiopia, opening its manufacturing plant in the capital Addis Ababa as part of its 13-year operational plan. "We have been a major market for Ethiopia's sheep leather for many years and now we have come up with an idea to begin manufacturing here," Youngil Song, general manger of Hiroki Addis, told The Reporter.