Ethiopia and UAE affirm their quest for the establishment of joint investment projects in various economic sectors

Addis Ababa: The United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Ethiopia have stressed their quest to establish vigorous joint investment projects in Ethiopia in the sectors of industry, agriculture, food processing, tourism, renewable energy and mining. The intensive talks conducted by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, during his current visit to Ethiopia, shed light on the two countries' desire to raise the level of bilateral trade, amounting to about one billion dollars, to higher levels in the coming years. Al Mansouri started his official visit to Addis Ababa on 17th of this month, leading a high-level delegation including Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Under-Secretary of the Foreign Trade Sector at the UAE Ministry of Economy along with about 55 people from government entities and both public and private sectors. The visit aims to monitor the promising opportunities to diversify its investments in the light of the agreements and investment partnerships between the two countries in a number of important economic sectors. He held series meetings with eight senior Ethiopian government officials, especially with President Mulatu Teshome, to discuss ways to promote economic and investment cooperation of trade exchange between the two countries. Al Mansouri yesterday met with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Minister of Foreign Affairs and State Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Ethiopia, Ahmed Shede. He also held talks with the Ethiopian Minister of Industry, Ahmed Abtew. Al Mansouri opened the Emirati Ethiopian Business Forum, organised by the Ministry of Economy in cooperation with the UAE embassy in Addis Ababa and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, in order to review opportunities for joint cooperation between the two countries. Al Mansouri conveyed the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to the Ethiopian Prime Minister. In an interview with Emirates News Agency, WAM, he added that the Ethiopian Prime Minister commended the excellent relations between the two countries and what closer cooperation could be achieved in various economic fields, especially after the expansion of UAE's investments in the industrial sectors in Ethiopia such as medicine, agriculture, and future contributions to the development of the tourism sector supported by the national airlines of both countries. According to Al Mansouri, talks focused during the two meetings on the importance of developing a joint future plan to benefit from the experience of the UAE in the field of government organisation and administration, legislation and laws governing the various economic sectors, especially with regard to cooperation in the field of small and medium enterprises. He stated that Mr. Desalegn suggested that the UAE might invest in the development of specialised industrial zones, to bring the names of UAE companies and factories not only to Ethiopia, but to all of East Africa. The Minister pointed out that the Ethiopian Foreign Minister hailed the results of his meeting with H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, during his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates, highlighting the importance of continued coordination between the two countries, which would contribute to support the stability and security of the region and various international issues. He said Mr. Adhanom, spoke about the future directions between his country and the United Arab Emirates, holding the first meeting of the joint committee between them. Al Mansouri also explained that his meeting with the Ethiopian Minister of Industry, which was attended by four ministers of state, highlighted the need of briefing the UAE on investment sectors, the Ethiopians' desire to be part of it, especially the UAE's investment funds seeking to invest in the sectors of agricultural, animal and food industries, because of their of importance to support the policy of the UAE in its orientation towards achieving food security. He added that Mr. Abtew also called on the United Arab Emirates to invest in mining sectors, especially as the country is rich in natural ores such as iron, gold, tin and others, and the possibility of exploiting available cheap electric power to encourage the establishment of UAE industries in Ethiopia. In his opening speech for the Emirati Ethiopian Business Forum, which concludes tomorrow, Al Mansouri said that the history of relations of the United Arab Emirates with Africa began in 1971, noting that the UAE was the first Gulf state and the second Arab country to join to the African Union Commission, in which Ethiopia has observer status. The Minister of Economy added that the UAE has economic and cultural ties with Ethiopia, pointing out that the trade volume between the two countries in 2012 amounted to about US$809 million, which enabled UAE's exporters to Ethiopia to expand manufacturing, in addition to supporting the re-export of products such as petroleum oils and sugar, ceramics, machinery, cars, tractors, electrical transformers, auto parts and accessories. He pointed out that imports from Ethiopia to the UAE helped maintain a steady supply of food, with meat and animal products, vegetables, plants and roots. It also supported the retail sector in the luxury sector with products such as natural and cultivated pearls, precious and semi-precious stones and metals coated with precious metals and accessories. He noted that about 100,000 Ethiopians are currently residing in the UAE working in various fields. Al Mansouri said that an Ethiopian delegation headed by Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, visited the UAE last January and met with Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, when he held discussions aimed at identifying ways to strengthen bilateral relations through increased investments in the fields of industry, agriculture and tourism. He said that Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) established a factory in the Ethiopian capital in February last year which has contributed to the creation of job opportunities for a large number of the local community The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has offered a loan worth Dh37m for road-building project in Ethiopia to contribute to the promotion of the infrastructure and to facilitate doing business and therefore raise the standard of living. He added that the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) opened a representative office in Addis Ababa in the past year, and Etihad Airways, the UAE's national carrier, will launch its first passenger flight from the UAE capital to Addis Ababa soon. Al Mansouri said that Ethiopia calls for international investment in the field of agricultural activity on more than three million hectares of land and create a number of sugar factories, noting that the UAE delegation is keen to explore ways to cooperate with Ethiopia in this area in order to help reduce the risk of food shortages which hangs over the region. He referred to the UAE as a leading force in a number of important industrial areas such as renewable energy, which is a fundamental pillar for progress. The Ministry of Economy welcomed Ethiopian investors to take advantage of the policies of the UAE in the field of business practice and its modern infrastructure which allows up to 100% foreign ownership of projects of up to100 % in all parts of the free zones. He pointed out that the UAE ranked 19th in the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 issued by The World Economic Forum (WEF) and ranked 23rd for ease of doing business during the year 2014 according to the World Bank report. He called on the private sector in Ethiopia to participate in exhibitions held in the UAE as a gateway for its products to the GCC and Middle East markets. – Emirates News Agency, WAM