ETHIOPIA-TURKEY BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT FORUM TOOK PLACE IN ADDIS ABABA
Under the leadership of Ministry of Economy of Republic of Turkey; Ethiopia-Turkey Business and Investment Forum took place in 28th of December 2016 at Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa with the collaboration of TIM, Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Unions of Ethiopia. With the participation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Dr. Worknehe Gebeyehu, Minister of Economy of Turkish Republic Nihat Zeybekci, Minister of Industry of Ethiopia Ahmed Abitew, TIM President and DEİK Vice-President Mehmet Büyükekşi, DEİK/Head of Turkey-Ethiopia Business Council Emre Aykar, Head of Chamber of Commerce and Sector Unions of Ethiopia Solomon Afework and over 350 participants forum commenced with the opening speech of Afework. Main agenda of the forum was business and investment opportunities.
During Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Dr. Worknehe Gebeyhu's speech at the Business and Investment Forum, he stated that economic and political collaboration between Ethiopia and Turkey has developed tremendously and Turkish investment in Ethiopia has grown vigorously. He emphasized that Ethiopia made significant progress over the past decade and collaboration with Turkish Government contributed to Ethiopia's both social and economic development. Hoping for a fruitful Business and Investment Forum and Joint Economic Commission, Minister, continued that Ethiopia supports Turkey's battle with terror.
Minister of Economy of Turkey Nihat Zeybekcistated that Turkey has made great progress with the "African Expansion" initiated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2003 and Turkish Airlines is nearly the "national airways" of Africa. He added that Turkey-Africa Business and Economic forum that took place in Istanbul between 2 -3rd of November was completed successfully. He stressed out the point that export and import with Ethiopia are growing at a stable pace but he would like to see shift in the trade balance in favor of Ethiopia. He drew attention to Ethiopia's investment climate by expressing it the most appropriate climate in Africa and calls for investment from the Turkish investors. During the meetings of Joint Economic Commission, he stated that Ethiopia and Turkey will have agreements over different sectors and that "Turkey Help Center" was established within Minister of Economy of Ethiopia to enable trade growth of Turkey.
Minister of Industry of Ethiopia Ahmed Abitewarticulated the amelioration of Ethiopia's work and investment environment as well as its infrastructure. He added that Ethiopia wants to enforce collaboration with Turkey and it has 9 focus industries with annual growth target of 20% for each of them.
President of TIM and Vice-President of DEİK Mehmet Büyükekşistated that they would like to have a sustainable and persistent trade relation between Turkey and Ethiopia. Büyükekşi continued his words by underlining the significance of Ethiopia as the symbol of independence of Africa yet he was not satisfied with the trade figures between two countries and expressed that collaboration must get stronger.
DEİK/Head of Turkey-Ethiopia Business Council Emre Aykarindicated that over 140 Turkish companies already have investments in Ethiopia over a large spectrum of sectors comprising of textile, agriculture, chemicals and construction thus providing over 30,000 employments. In order to create more efficient work environment and to increase mutual trade Aykar requested for an establishment of a special help center in Ethiopia for Turkish business world and support for an extended and multiple-entry visa for Turkish businessmen.
Under the leadership of Ministry of Economy of Republic of Turkey and with the collaboration of TIM, Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Unions of Ethiopia; Ethiopia-Turkey Business and Investment Forum was completed with presentations and B2B talks.
Turkey-Ethiopia Trade Fact Sheet (Ministry of Economy-2015)
Total Trade Volume: 420 Million USD
Export from Turkey to Ethiopia: 384 Million USD
Main Export Items: Iron-Steel, Copper wire, textile, plastic
Import from Ethiopia to Turkey: 36 Million USD
Maint Import Items:Herbal Products, cotton yarn, knitwear, textile, copper Wire Trade Balance: 348 Million USD
