Pakistan businessmen delegation to visit Ethiopia to boost B2B, P2P ties

35Addis Ababa, November 21, 2022 (FBC) – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia to Pakistan, Jemal Beker, confirmed that Pakistani delegation consisting of businessmen is set to visit Ethiopia to explore import-export business opportunities in the country.

Ambassador Jemal Beker and Kamran Khan Tessori, Governor Sindh province of Pakistan, held discussion to explore ways to boost the business-to-business and people-to-people ties between the two friendly nations.

Both dignitaries discussed opportunities offered by both countries to each other in diverse sectors of the economy such as agriculture, health care, textile, manufacturing, mining, and information technology.

The Ambassador said the Pakistani delegation would be inclusive and would have representation from all the sectors including manufacturing, pharmaceutical, surgery equipment, textile, agriculture, and others.

He said the Ethiopian government had opened the economy and there were a lot of opportunities for Pakistani investors to cash in.

“We are producing the best coffee and tea in the world which can be exported to Pakistan at affordable rates,” he remarked. He said Pakistan could also import chickpeas, oil seeds, and wheat as well.

Likewise, he said Pakistani businessmen could sell pharmaceuticals, rice, textiles, construction, and healthcare-related materials to the Ethiopian market.

” We opened the financial sector some three months ago for foreign investment and going to launch the first-ever stock exchange to encourage foreign direct investment,” Ambassador Jemal noted.

He said his government had announced multiple incentives for foreign investors as well as set up a one-window facility to facilitate the investors and create ease of doing business in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is set to become a manufacturing hub of Africa as it produced the cheapest energy close to 96.4 percent from hydro and geothermal sources, he stated.

“We are exporting energy to Kenya, Djibouti, and Sudan and efforts are afoot to sell the electricity to many countries and integrate through energy grid” he added.

The Ambassador noted that currently, the trade volume between the two countries was minimal which could be boosted by establishing institutional linkages, business-to-business contacts, and people-to-people ties.

To this end, he said the visit of the Pakistani businessmen delegation would play a critical role in taking the bilateral relation particularly trade to the next level.

Governor Sindh thanked Ambassador Jemal Beker for taking a keen interest in boosting bilateral trade between the two countries.

He further said this delegation is a part of the ‘Look Africa Initiative’ that gave top priority to Ethiopia.

The business trade delegation is going to be held in Ethiopia between 16-20 January 2023. To this end, the Embassy will notify the detailed programs and share them with the concerned authorities, according to the report by Pakistan Today.

As a result of their discussion, the two officials have agreed that Governor Kamran Tessori will lead the delegation of Pakistani businessmen, the Ambassador confirmed via twitter.