Prospects for cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union countries and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia were discussed by representatives of the business and expert communities at the first Ethiopian-Eurasian Business Forum held on December 1 in an online format. The Eurasian Economic Commission was represented at the Forum by Goar Barseghyan, Director of Integration Development Department.
Prospects for cooperation
between the Eurasian Economic Union countries and the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia were discussed by representatives of the business and
expert communities at the first Ethiopian-Eurasian Business Forum held on
December 1 in an online format. The Eurasian Economic Commission was
represented at the Forum by Goar Barseghyan, Director of Integration
Development Department.
"The Russia-Africa Summit held in
Sochi in 2019 gave a new impetus to developing mutually beneficial trade and
economic cooperation between the African States not only with the Russian
Federation, but also with other EAEU Member States: Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan," Goar Barseghyan stated.
"Along with that, having formalized cooperation with the
African Union, we note the increased interest in deepening dialogue with the EEC
from a wide range of African countries, which is largely due to attention paid
to various aspects of supranational regulation within the EAEU".
Alemayehu Tegenu Aargau, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
Ethiopia expressed interest in deepening trade and economic interaction with
the Union countries. Tsion Teklu, State Minister for Economic
Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, has
emphasized the importance of dialogue with the business community as well as
told about the Ethiopian reforms aimed at improving the investment and business
climate.
According to Irina Abramova, Director of the Africa Institute of the Russian
Academy of Sciences, Ethiopia is particularly attractive for investors due to
the Chinese New Silk Road running through its territory as well as the growth
rate of the Ethiopian economy.
The issues of investments, the use of financial instruments in developing trade
and economic interaction, transfer of innovative technologies and joint
ventures, and creating a system of preferences in Ethiopia for businesses from
the Union countries were discussed within the Business Forum as well.
The event was attended by representatives
of official and business circles of Ethiopia as well as expert and business
communities of the EAEU States.
For reference
Over
the past decade, the EAEU trade turnover with African States has risen by
almost 3 times, exceeding 20 bln dollars. Along with that, there is a serious
reserve for increasing trade, economic and investment interaction.