Ethio-Saudi Business Forum Held Online

Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia held the Ethio-Saudi Business Forum online yesterday. Several officials including Ambassador Gebeyehu Ganga (PhD), Director General of the Middle East, Asia, and Pacific Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lelise Neme, Commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission, and Badr Albadr, Deputy Minister for Investors Outreach at the Ministry of Investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Participants of the forum noted the strong relationship Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had on various sectors including development, trade, and investment. Priority areas of investment and opportunities in Ethiopia and the country’s efforts to open up the telecom and banking sectors for foreign investment were discussed at the forum. In addition, investment areas in the mining sector which were fit for Saudi Arabian investors such as steel manufacturing, and fertilizer and sulfur production were presented.

Saudi Arabian investors are engaged in several investment areas in Ethiopia such as agriculture, manufacturing, mining, education, health, hotels, tour operation, transport and communication, real estate, machinery and equipment rental and consultancy service, and construction. Between September 1992 and March 2022 Saudi Arabia ran a total of 236 investment projects in Ethiopia which had a total value of Birr 20.5 billion. These projects created employment for 80 thousand people.

In related news, Ethio-UK trade and investment forum was kicked off at the Ethiopian Embassy in London yesterday. Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, Wafa Marketing and Promotion, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopian Embassy in London, and the British Builders Merchants Federation organized the forum.

Source: Fana BC

Additional source: Ethiopian Press Agency