Beijing is seeking better business ties with Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA – The Conference to Promote Beijing-Ethiopia Cooperation was held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on Friday, with a call to further strengthen trade and investment ties between China and Ethiopia.

The conference, which brought together leaders from hundreds of Chinese and Ethiopian companies, served as a platform to explore the extensive potential for trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

Speaking at the event, Ethiopian Minister of Finance for Economic Cooperation, Semereta Sewasew, said that Ethio-China economic cooperation is based on the principles of mutual benefits, respect and trust between the two nations, which greatly contributes to the rapid economic growth of Ethiopia.

“Over the past two decades, Chinese companies have successfully implemented more than 70 large and medium-sized projects, including two railway projects, power stations and transmission lines, and telecommunications modernization,” Sewasew said.

Noting that Ethio-China economic cooperation began in 1971, the State Minister said Ethiopia had accomplished mega projects including highways, airport terminals and various manufacturing industries with the full support of China.

She said the Chinese government has been financing development projects in Ethiopia mainly in the form of grants, in addition to lending a helping hand to green development, food security, building hospitals and providing medical supplies.

Gebeyehu Ganga, director general of the Middle East, Asia and Pacific at the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said China’s unwavering diplomatic commitment to working with Ethiopia has borne fruit through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (Focac ) and the Belt and Road Initiative. (BRI).

“China is Ethiopia’s largest trading partner and the leading source of foreign direct investment in the country, accounting for almost 50 percent of all foreign direct investment in the country,” Ganga said.

He said Ethiopia’s inclusion in the BRICS mechanism, with strong support from China and other member states of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), would undoubtedly expand its business exchanges and greater investment opportunities in the East African country would create.

Yang Yihang, minister counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, said Chinese enterprises had participated in more than 2,000 projects in Ethiopia as of May 2024, investing a total of P5 billion and creating about 610,000 jobs.

“In the first five months of this year, Chinese enterprises invested more than $200 million in about 100 projects in Ethiopia, creating more than 18,000 local jobs,” Yang said.

Indicating that Ethio-China diplomatic relations have been elevated to the All-Weather Strategic Partnership in October 2023, Yang said there would be great potential for future cooperation between Beijing and Ethiopia in the fields of modern agriculture, biotechnology, infrastructure development, digital economy and exploitation of industrial parks. .

The conference, organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Beijing Sub-Council and Beijing Chamber of International Commerce, also saw the signing of memoranda of understanding between Chinese and Ethiopian enterprises aimed at improving their business relations and exchanging data and information. and organizing joint fairs and exhibitions in the future.