UAE, Ethiopia plan joint investment projects

The UAE and the Republic of Ethiopia have stressed their quest to establish vigourous joint investment projects in Ethiopia in the sectors of industry, agriculture, food processing, tourism, renewable energy and mining.

By (Wam)

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Published: Thu 20 Mar 2014, 11:05 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 10:30 PM

The intensive talks conducted by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, during his current visit to Ethiopia. The visit also shed light on the two countries’ desire to raise the level of bilateral trade, amounting to about $1 billion, to higher levels in the coming years.

Al Mansouri started his official visit to Addis Ababa on Monday, 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.

The UAE minister held a series of 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 met 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 the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to the Ethiopian Prime Minister.

In an interview with 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 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 Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, during his recent visit to the UAE, 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.


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