Ethiopia is trying to prove that it has the capacity to organize and host the 2021 World Chamber Congress; according to a statement on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. To assess the country’s ability to host the big event, officials of the International Chamber of Commerce (CCE) visited Addis Ababa and met with several high government officials.
President Mulatu Teshome held talks with CCE Director Anthony Parkes on the preparations and commitments of Ethiopia to organize the congress. The country is currently competing with Kenya, Dubai and Iran to host the event that would attract over 2,000 participants.
“I am here today to hear how the president is supporting the strength of the bid from Addis Ababa for the congress, including the wonderful facilities you have here, the infrastructure and the ease of access to the country which is important as we have delegates from chambers of commerce from over 130 nations,” said Parkes.
Parkes also met with Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu and the pair discussed Ethiopia’s bid to host the international event. The Foreign Minister underlined that Ethiopia is a host to the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and other international organizations which goes to show the great business environment here.
“Ethiopia has a rich experience in hosting international events in the areas of business and investment, with the requisite expertise, the knowledge and the hospitality of the people of Ethiopia, the country is more than ready to host the Congress,” the minister said.
He further underlined the fact that, the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association (ECCSA) as a chief representative of the business community in Ethiopia with more than 300,000 active members and its close partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has the immense potential to host the Congress.
If granted the opportunity the event is expected to help Ethiopia get experience, share technology and show business opportunities for investors.
Ethiopia hopes to host World Chamber Congress in 2021
Djibouti signs port deal with PIL
The Doraleh Container Terminal Management Company (DCTMC), which was formed recently to manage the container terminal in Djibouti, has signed an agreement with one of the biggest container movers in the world, Pacific International Lines (PIL). This will increase DCT’s activity by one third.
DCTMC was created by the government of Djibouti the day they severed ties with DP World, a UAE based port operator, who also owned one third of the share at Doraleh. Now they have come to terms with PIL, a Singapore based shipping company, to increase handling by 300,000 TEU containers per annum.
In its announcement early this week Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA), which oversees the country’s port operations, said this would boost their cargo volume at the terminal by 33 percent.
“The port deal is expected to bring an additional 300,000 TEU containers to the terminal per annum,” it added.
The terminal has a capacity of 1.6 million TEUs per year, while its actual performance is 900,000 TEUs.
The authority said that the agreement is the initial move towards the Doraleh Container Terminal (DCT) achieving its potential.
DCT began operating in December 2008 under the management of DP World and two thirds ownership of the government of Djibouti. The authority recently claimed that DCT achieved only 57 percent of its capacity under DP World.
In his interview with Capital, Mohammed Idriss Farah, Ambassador of Djibouti to Ethiopia, said that his country saw through DP world’s strategy, after some thought, and realised that taking shares in Djibouti’s ports enabled them to stifle Djibouti to the benefit of Jebel Ali’s port.
“This port has 1.6 million TEU capacity even though we never went above 900,000 TEU and they were telling partners like PIL that it was impossible to unload in Djibouti as the port was saturated, and that they should go to Jebel Ali,” he said.
“We want to develop our port, we want to go from 3 to 10 million containers and be the main port of Africa, this is Djibouti’s objective, and this is something they do not want,” he claimed.
The ambassador said that in terms of capacity of service with the capability to double in this first phase with the Singapore company PIL, that already signed up for 300,000 containers per year to transit there, DCT will go up to 1.2 million containers and others are also willing to work with the port management.
PIL is considered as the 11th biggest company in container operation is expected reach 9th place in the coming year. In 2016 the company agreed with China Merchant Group to work together for the realization of the Belt and Road Initiative that the Chinese government has launched.
Recently the port management that was responsible for ports in Djibouti except for DCT announced that it reduced port operation tariffs. However, the tariff was not adjusted for DCT.
The Djibouti Ambassador said that since the authority is now directly managing the DCT it would include the tariff adjustment like it did for other ports.
“Of course, because the decision of 50% decrease was not made by DP World but by the Djiboutian government, now a Djiboutian state owned company has taken over there is nothing to worry about on that matter as it is a sovereign decision that will be enforced for all users and clients of the port,” he said.
Agro-processing investment forum brings stakeholders together
The Ethiopian government is investing heavily in the agricultural sector to strengthen the linkages between farming, agro-processing and value addition; participants at the International Agro-Industry Investment Forum that opened on Monday this week said.
The four daylong event saw the attendance of over 3,000 stakeholders in the food processing, textile and garment, leather and leather products and other related sectors such as packaging and energy.
Organized by the Ethiopian government and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the forum was officially opened by President Mulatu Teshome. The president underlined that at the center of Ethiopia’s agro-industry development activities is the development of agro-processing parks in the different regions.
“Agro-industry parks are built in an integrated manner to address constraints related to land access, infrastructure, trade logistics, customs regulations and skills,” the president said. It was further stated that the government is taking proactive measures to expedite the establishment process of four pilot agro-industrial parks by allocating seed funds to support infrastructure development.
“To achieve this, the government is fast tracking industrial goal development. In just three to five years we have seen three state of the art textile industry clusters, which are already attracting internationally recognized manufacturers, in Hawassa, Mekele and Kombolacha”, added Minister of Industry Ahmed Abtew who was also present at the opening.
UNIDO commended the government’s commitment to achieve the Growth and Transformation Plan phase two (GTP2) and leading the country towards attaining middle income country status.
The Forum featured participants from the public and business sector, including current and potential investors, international and domestic enterprises, industry associations, international organizations and financial institutions, as well as representatives from the government of Ethiopia.
The Forum featured specific investment opportunities and investment incentive regimes, as well as facilitated business linkages through a series of networking activities – including B2B, an exhibition for national and international companies and a field visit to an industrial park.
Ethiopia, Italy hold experience sharing session on agro industry development
A side session focusing on the Ethio-Italian private-public partnership for the sustainable development of the agro-industry in Ethiopia, was held on Wednesday at the Millennium Hall where the 2nd International Agro-Industry Forum that was held for four days this week.
Organized by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the Italian Trade Agency of Addis Ababa organized a side session on the Ethio-Italian Private-Public Partnership for the Sustainable development of Agro Industry in collaboration of the Ministry of Industry and the UN Industrial Development Organization, was officially opened by Italy’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Arturo Luzzi and State Minister of Industry Mebrahtu Meles.
According to the State Minister, the Ethiopian government has long term investment plan in the agro-processing sector that will strengthen and transform the linkages between the processing industry and agriculture.
“There are obviously a lot of opportunities for investment in the agro-processing sector. We advise you to take big bold steps and take this opportunity,” he told members Region Emilia Romagna and News Holland Agriculture who were present to share their experiences and explore opportunities.
The side event set the frame for present and future public private partnership between Italy and Ethiopia with the aim of boosting the Ethiopian agro-industry sector, with a view to upcoming initiative promoted by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Ethiopia.
Different presentations and discussions focused on agro-processing industrial parks in Ethiopia and the opportunities they present and social, industrial and economic development in Ethiopia and the challenges that are faced.
Ethiopia is planning to construct 17 Integrated Agro Industrial Parks (IAIPs) that will be built in all states. Four states have already laid cornerstones to commence the construction of their own agro-processing industrial parks. The parks are expected to help the country speed up its economic transformation from farming to an industrial-led one.
