Ethiopia’s envoy urges businesspeople to exploit Africa’s untapped business potential

FAISALABAD: Addis Ababa intends to enhance Pakistani presence in Ethiopian markets and in this connection a special subsidized Pakistani trade delegation has been arranged that would visit this brotherly country from March 5-10, said Jemal Beker Abdula, Ambassador Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Addressing the business community of Faisalabad in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), he termed Ethiopia as a gateway to the virgin land of Africa and said that the Pakistani business community must exploit its untapped potential.

Introducing Ethiopia, he said that it is the land of creation of mankind and also a homeland of various and robust civilizations. He said that River Nile is the economic lifeline of Ethiopia and this historic river contributes heavily to the economy of Ethiopia in addition to having salutary impacts on the 11 neighboring countries.

He particularly mentioned Hazrat Bilal Habshi and Nijashi and said that it has special attraction for the Muslims from all over the world because of these personalities.

He said that a massive reform agenda was introduced in 2018 and various initiatives have been taken to open this country for the global business community. He said that Russia, China and India are also present in Ethiopia but his government intends to ensure the proactive presence of Pakistan in this brotherly country. He said that Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies of the world for the last two decades and Pakistani businessmen should also explore emerging opportunities not only to strengthen its economic ties with Ethiopia but also to penetrate deep into the other adjoining countries.

Enumerating the economic potentialities of Ethiopia, he said that it provides cheapest raw material for the production including energy in addition to the best human resource of productive age like Pakistan. He mentioned the excellent ranking of Ethiopia in Easy of Doing Business and said that Ethiopia has identified five major sectors where the Pakistani and other business communities could invest. In this connection, he particularly mentioned agriculture and its related processing industry in addition to the development of the manufacturing sector which may also include textile, pharmaceutical and surgical equipment etc.

He said that Pakistani businessmen should register their companies in Addis Ababa as it has enormous opportunities to invest independently or launch joint ventures in collaboration with the local counterparts. He also assured to identify the serious and reliable businessmen from Ethiopia who could collaborate for the benefit of the two countries.

Underlining the importance of the current delegation, he said that it would be subsidized by the Ethiopian government as it would provide them free transportation during their stay in Ethiopia. Similarly, subsidy would also be doled out on hotel fare. He further said that the first scheduled flight carrying the Pakistani delegation would fly from Karachi while the second flight would airlift the remaining participants from Faisalabad.

Responding to different questions, he assured Pakistani businessmen to arrange their B2B meetings with their Ethiopian counterparts so that they could develop direct contacts and import coffee, tea, chickpea and cashew nuts, soybean, white kidney beans etc without the involvement of a third party. “His country was currently producing natural crops including soybean, however, it was considering introducing GMO varieties to enhance agricultural production to the maximum level. He also assured to streamline the banking system which was a major hurdle in the promotion of bilateral trade between the two countries.

He said that Ethiopia has surplus energy including electricity which could also be exported to neighboring countries through the African grid. Similarly Ethiopia also intends to promote peace in the entire world in general and in the region in particular to develop this country as a strong economic hub of this region.

Earlier, Senior Vice President FCCI Dr Sajjad Arshad welcomed the guests and said that Faisalabad Chamber is the mother organization of all trade bodies present in this district. He said that we are developing the latest and state of the art industrial estates where a number of foreign units are also operating successfully. He lamented that the current volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Ethiopia is only 78 million dollars but it is encouraging that the worthy ambassador intends to enhance it to 300 million dollars by the end of this year. He also expressed concern over lack of proper banking channels and direct air links which are major impediments in the promotion of bilateral trade.

Dr Arshad said that Pakistan is currently importing tea to the tune of 13 billion dollars per annum from different countries and substantial import orders could be diverted to Ethiopia if the quality and taste of its products are good and the issue of banking channels is resolved amicably. He said that Pakistan is currently exporting rice, pharmaceutical and surgical instruments to Ethiopia but still there is a huge gap between the demand and supply.

Honorary Consul General of Ethiopia Ibrahim Khalid Tawab briefed the participants about the proposed trade delegation and hoped that maximum participants from Faisalabad would also join it to personally witness the huge business opportunities in Ethiopia.

An informative presentation was also screened which was followed by a question-answer session.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023