Plans to expand Ethiopia’s trade with Kazakhstan and further with the countries of Central Asia in the context of the government's economic course, outlined in the State of the Nation Address of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, were discussed during a seminar organized by the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Addis Ababa, El.kz cites MFA.
The event was attended by the Minister of Trade and Regional Integration of Ethiopia Gebremeskel Chala, Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and Security of the Parliament of Ethiopia Dima Sarbo, Chairman of the Board of the Center for Investment and Networking in Ethiopia, former President of Ethiopia Dr. Mulatu Teshome, Director General of the Middle East, Asia and Pacific affairs Department of Ethiopian Foreign Ministry Ambassador Gebeyehu Ganga, the leadership of the Ethiopian Airlines Cargo Transportation Sector, as well as the heads of large Ethiopian companies interested in developing bilateral trade, investment cooperation with Kazakhstan, including the import of goods from Kazakhstan to African countries, and the export of Ethiopian coffee, spices, flowers and other goods to Kazakhstan and the markets of Central Asia.
In his speech, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan Barlybay Sadykov acquainted the seminar participants with the main directions of economic reforms announced in the annual Address of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dated September 1, 2023. During the event, information was provided on the policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan on cooperation with international and regional organizations in the field of trade and investment. Particular attention was paid to the opportunities for the development of transit and transport corridors between the countries of East Africa and the Central Asian region, given the lack of direct access to the sea in Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa.
The participants of the seminar praised the plans of the Government of Kazakhstan to double GDP to 450 billion US dollars by 2029, turn Kazakhstan into one of the leading agro-industrial centers of Eurasia, ensure annual growth in lending to the real sector of the economy up to 20%, increase exports of IT services to 1 billion US dollars by 2026.
Minister of Trade of Ethiopia Gebremeskel Chala outlined positive trends in trade between the two countries and stressed the government's readiness to promote business to expand economic ties with Kazakhstan.
The former president of the country, the current head of the Center for Investment and Networking in Ethiopia Mulatu Teshome summed up the results of his visit to Kazakhstan, noted the productivity of meetings of Ethiopian companies with Kazakh partners and expressed confidence in the further successful cooperation of business structures of the two countries.
In general, the participants of the seminar expressed deep interest in trade and investment cooperation with Kazakhstan, the opening of joint ventures in priority sectors of the economy, and also exchanged plans for the implementation of the agreements reached following the visit of the Ethiopian business delegation to Kazakhstan in June this year and the second round of political consultations at the level of deputy foreign ministers of the two countries held in Astana in July 2023.