Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to Pakistan Jemal Beker Abdula on Tuesday said so far more than 70 businessmen have signed up for the historic trade delegation flying to Addis Ababa on March 5 for exploring business and investment opportunities.
“We are going to make history as the number of delegates we are expecting may cross the mark of 100 before the deadline for registration which is March 1,” said the ambassador while addressing a news briefing here which was entirely focused on the five-day business trip to Ethiopia.
He said a lot of efforts and energy was invested in the initiative as his team worked day in and day out to make the historic delegation a success story. “This historic trade delegation will change the entire landscape of Ethiopia and Pakistan’s bilateral relations” he hoped.
Jemal Beker said the bilateral trade between Ethiopia and Pakistan amounted to only $78 million, but “one thing I can assure you is that with this business delegation, our bilateral trade will get a major boost”.
“In this delegation, we have included business people from different sectors of the economy especially those which have trade and investment potential in Ethiopia,” he said, adding Pakistani business community on their first visit to Ethiopia would find a big market for rice, pharmaceutical products, medical equipment, sports items and construction material.
Likewise, Pakistani businesspeople could also import agricultural products such as coffee, tea, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables from Ethiopia which would eventually help it mitigate the growing demand for the edibles.
The ambassador said Ethiopia was the fastest growing economy in the world offering lucrative business, trade and investment opportunities with low cost of production including clean energy and skilled labour.
“We have almost completed the largest Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with 6,500 MW capacity,” he said, adding his country had already been exporting energy to South Sudan, Djibouti and others.—APP
