A delegation from Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently participated in the Ethiopian Transport Investment Summit, which took place in Addis Ababa, and explored prospects to expand cooperation between the UAE and Ethiopia in the logistics and transport sectors.
The summit, organised by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Transport, aimed to promote the sector’s untapped investment opportunities, and create a networking platform for potential foreign and local investors.
At the event, Dagmawit Moges, Minister to Ministry of Transport of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, expressed her government’s readiness to collaborate with the private sector to achieve the transport and logistics sector’s ten-year perspective plan and hence dedicated her effort to the preparation of the summit.
She said that “as the country seeks to increase infrastructure assets, and renovate the services, the amalgamation of state of art technological inputs, and enjoying a late comer advantage of accessing all contemporary transport related inventions and mechanisms would only happen, through opening up of the sector to the private investors both foreign and domestic.”
A panel session during the event, titled Opportunities for Private Sector Engagement in the Ethiopian Transport Sector, was joined by Omar Khan, Director of International Offices.
During the discussion, he noted that the summit shed light on new opportunities in Ethiopia’s logistics and transport sectors, which offer tremendous potential for Dubai Chamber members, and companies specialising in IT companies, delivery and freight forwarding.
“The transport sector is vital and important to any country, and Ethiopia is witnessing many changes in terms of investment, trade and opening up opportunities for international companies,” Khan said, adding that Ethiopia is expected to witness unprecedented economic transformation with the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement coming into play.
Since Dubai Chamber opened its first Africa office in Addis Ababa several years ago, Dubai’s non-oil trade with Africa has surged by nearly 42% over the 2014-2019 period, Khan explained, adding that the number of African companies registering with Dubai Chamber has grown to exceed 17,000 today.
In addition, he encouraged Ethiopian companies to participate in the Expo 2020 Dubai and the Global Business Forum Africa descending on Dubai later this year, as they provide an ideal platform for these businesses to boost their global profile, explore new growth opportunities and build cross-border partnerships.