In 2004, Locus Economica Founder and CEO Jean-Paul Gauthier evaluated the Kingdom’s industrial estates framework for the World Bank’s Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS), in connection with the launching of bids to develop its first such estate in Tikoe. Today, the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) operates 6 industrial parks, with a 7th under construction. Together, these provide 90% of the country’s exports, 18% of its GDP, and employ half the country’s labour force. Employment in the parks stands at over 50,000. Tikoe estate had, as of 2019, created over 5,600 jobs through investments by 10 companies. A $440 million Phase III expansion, launched the same year, is expected to create over 2,700 more jobs. 12 investors were on the waitlist for factory sheds in the various parks as of 2018. Ha Belo Industrial Estate began construction in 2018, with its first phase expected to be completed in 2020. The estate is expected to create over 20,000 jobs once fully occupied.