Addis Ababa, February 22, 2022 (FBC) – Addressing the 3rd emergency session of the parliament, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed indicated that the foreign direct investment of Ethiopia has surged by 23pct in the last six months.
The number of business licenses increased by 10pct, with 8pct of renewing already existing business licenses. “Our systems, however, need to be upgraded and modernized,” the Prime Minister underlined.
Cluster farming is a productive and profitable method of mechanized farming that has to be widely adopted by our farmers.
“Encouragement of indigenous production and reduction of imports should continue to be emphasized in the industry, he said, adding that efforts to expedite import substitution are bearing fruits in several aspects,” he said.
Beer malt needed by the brewery factories in the country has been fully produced locally replacing previous imports.
In the industrial sector Ethiopia has managed to locally produce military and students uniforms and shoes locally as per import substitution endeavors to this end.
The premier also noted that export volume has increased by 25 percent, calling for enhanced efforts to reduce import volume and adjust the trade balance.
Great Ethiopian Homecoming has yielded encouraging outcomes as a result of the contribution by the diaspora. We call up on Muslim diaspora to return home for Ramadan and continue their contributions.
Regarding greenery and beautification national projects, the Premier noted that the country is developing several lakes. From the “Dine for Ethiopia” project, works at Gorgora and Koisha will be completed this year, with the exception of Wonchi, the Premier indicated.
Concerning the ongoing changes, Abiy underlined that reform is a process that needs time even in top government structures. “In all of this, it is promising to have Ethiopians in the public service sector who work even during the night,” he added.
“As far as we’ve come in terms of enhancing environmental ergonomics and ICT in government agencies, we still have a long way to go in terms of preventing corruption. Investigative journalism is encouraged. We are also performing evaluations,” he noted.