ADDIS ABABA-Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Demeke Mekonnen is on an official visit to India and attended the India-Ethiopia Business Forum.
Demeke Mekonnen’s visit is the first to Asia as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.
The high-level visit to India is being taken place consequent to the last visit of Foreign Minister of Ethiopia to India in 2008 for the 2nd Joint Commission Meeting held between the two countries.
During the visit, Demeke will hold bilateral talks with the External Affairs Minister of India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (PhD).
On his first day of visit to New Delhi, Demeke attended the India-Ethiopia Business Forum meeting organized by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and the Ethiopian Embassy in New Delhi.
The event saw large participation of Indian companies interested to do business with Ethiopia.
Some of the Indian companies, who are members of the Indian Business Forum (IBF) and have their business establishments in Ethiopia, shared their good experiences of doing business in Ethiopia and the opportunities of investing in Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia Robert Shetkintong stated that the growing presence of Indian companies in Ethiopia forms a strong link between the two countries, contributing positively to the growing strong partnership between Ethiopia and India.
To date, there are 607 registered Indian companies in Ethiopia employing 75,000 Ethiopian nationals.
“Indian investments are worth about 5 billion USD, out of which 3 billion USD is estimated to be on the ground. About 58.7% of Indian investment is in the manufacturing sector, followed by agriculture (15.6%)., ”
As to the Ambassador, Indian companies have invested in various sectors like agriculture and floriculture, engineering, plastics, manufacturing, cotton and textiles, water management, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare.
Convener of Indian Business Forum and Chairman of Mohan Group of Companies, based in Addis Ababa Mayur Kothari welcomed the visit of Demeke Mekonnen to India.
He stated that the visit will bring momentum to the growing bilateral relations between the two countries especially in the area of business and commerce.
IBF has been contributing to fostering and facilitating business ties between the two countries.
Accordingly, India is one of the largest trading partners of Ethiopia. During 2019, bilateral trade was 1.2 billion USD which slightly dipped to 900 million USD in 2020.
Major imports by India from Ethiopia were: pulses, precious and semi-precious stones, vegetables and seeds, leather, and spices.
Exports from India mainly include primary and semi-finished iron and steel products, drugs and pharmaceuticals, machinery and instruments, manufactures of metal, among others.
India is the third most important source of imports for Ethiopia, contributing 8% of all Ethiopian imports next to China, Kuwait, and USA, it was learnt.
The Ethiopian herald February 18/2021
