A well attended Ethio-Norwegian Trade and Investment Seminar was conducted in Oslo last week in a cooperative effort between the Ethiopian Embassy to the Scandinavian countries (in Stockholm) and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Addis Ababa. More than 50 participants from a range of Norwegian business and government institutions participated at the seminar held at Innovation Norway, an agency for facilitating trade and international business consisting of the former Norwegian Tourist Board, Norwegian Trade Council, Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund, SND and the Government Consultative Office for Inventors, SVO.
10/06/2008 ::
The seminar focussed on trying to attract greater interest among Norwegian business and investors to a number of sectors contributing to the Ethiopian export potential, namely textiles, leather and shoes, flowers, coffee, handicrafts and tourism. In his keynote adress to the seminar Ethiopian ambassador Dina Mufti emphasized the high growthrate of the Ethiopian economy over the last 4 years and attributed it to the improved investment climate in the country. For his part the Norwegian ambassador to Ethiopia Jens-Petter Kjemprud expressed a strong belief that trade and investment between the two countries has a huge untapped potential and strongly urged Norwegian business, companies and investors to look to Ethiopia. He underlined that the huge infrastructure developments in Ethiopia has released a new dynamics in Ethiopia economic development and also said that the economic development has created a new middle class in Ethiopia with a purchasing power which should also attract Norwegian exporters and investors.
Representatives from HSH - the federation of Norwegian commercial and service enterprises which is Norway’s leading organisation for businesses and employers in the private services sector - and NORAD (the Norwegian Development Agency) focussed on areas where the two organisations could support trade and investment between Ethiopia and Norway, while Dr. Degemu Shertaga, the economic counsellor at the Ethiopia Embassy gave a thorough overview of the new investment climate, and efficient rules and regulations for investors in Ethiopia, overhauled five times in recent years. The area manager for Ethiopian Airlines Paulos Sime on his part explained the facilitating role Ethiopian Airlines could play for trade through its comprehensive cargo network from Ethiopia to Europe including Scandinavia.
Participants from among Norwegian companies told the seminar about their experiences in making business in Ethiopia among them companies importing flowers, coffee and honey from Ethiopia. It also transpired that a lot of trade between the two countries are not reflected in trade statistics as trade is conducted through agents in other countries. Ideas on how to create direct links and relations were discussed as this would benefit both the Ethiopian producers as well as the Norwegian customers. Examples of red tape problems experienced in Ethiopia and lack of support from Norwegian authorities were also touched upon with a view to improve the situation and create a more conducive environment.
Norwegian companies from other sectors than those given particular attention also participated, among them some actice in hydropower development. The two ambassadors also conducted a number of meetings in connection with the seminar. Those included meetings with Yara, the fertilizer producer active in Ethiopia, hydropower companies as well as with the State secretary for International Development in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The seminar lead to new initiatives to start trade and/or investment in Ethiopia from some of the companies in tourism, coffee and flower imports as well as engagement in the hydropower sector.
"The trade and investment seminar attracted attention from a higher number of business and government officials than we had expected", says ambassador Jens-Petter Kjemprud. "I am very happy not only with the turnout but also with the engagement by the participants. The sectors defined for particular attention, textiles, leather and shoes, flowers, coffe, handicrafts and tourism were all covered.
Also the presentations by the Ethiopian Embassy in Stockholm, HSH and NORAD gave a thorough overview of the trade and investment climate in Ethiopia and the support arrangements available in Norway. I consider this seminar as a kickoff event for stronger, broader and more direct trade between Norway and Ethiopia".