India attaches high priority to its relation with Ethiopia, Prya Nair
Addis Ababa, November 6, 2023 (FBC) – India attaches high priority to its relations with Ethiopia, Economic Advisor of the Indian Commerce and Industry Minister and Head of the Joint Trade Committee Prya Nair said.
After a considerable gap of 15 years, the 6th Ethiopia and India joint trade committee meeting kicked off today in Addis Ababa.
In her opening remark, the economic advisor said the age old civilization links between Ethiopia and India have not only stood the test of time but have been further strengthened by mutual warmth, friendship and goodwill.
“India is the second largest foreign investment in Ethiopia and Ethiopia has been a favorite destination for Indian companies. More than 650 Indian companies are registered with Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC). There is cumulative investment of more than 5 billion USD and it is estimated that around 3 to 4 billion USD are presently on the ground,” she elaborated.
Ethiopia is and will always remain India’s valued partner country, Nair stated, and added “our two countries have a rich and uninterrupted history of close cooperation at multilateral fora.”
According to the economic advisor, there is a tremendous enthusiasm on both sides to seize the momentum in rebooting the economic commercial linkages and elevate them to a much higher level.
Pharmaceutical products, vehicles, railway, machinery, mechanical appliances, cereals, electrical machinery and equipment, minerals, fuels, steel, and rubber are among the many potential sectors that the two countries could explore opportunities, she pointed out.
Ethiopia and India can also explore the possibilities of trading in local currency which will help boosting bilateral trade and conserving foreign exchange, Nair emphasized.
ENA quoted Nair as saying: “I am confident that India and Ethiopia are correctly poised to be part of each other’s long-term development stories,”
Trade and Regional Integration Minister, Gebremeskel Challa on his said that the joint trade committee meeting will help the two countries to acknowledge the deep-rooted partnership and to further strengthen the bonds.
He added that the Ethiopian government has an enabling environment for Indian investment in Ethiopia’s priority sectors such as textile, agro-processing, and leather sectors.
“I believe this meeting should consult on how the two countries effectively utilize their market potentials to extensively expand and diversify their trade and suggest appropriate measures that would be executed by the two countries cooperatively for further strengthening and expanding the trade exchanges and narrowing widened gaps of trade balance,” the Minister stressed.
Since 2018 to 2022 the annual average trade exchange value was about 1.79 billion USD, of which Ethiopia’s export and import was 85.2 million USD and 1.7 billion USD respectively, Gebremeskel said, and added “the trade balance highly favored India.’