Tatyana Gracheva

According to the press service of the Kazakh MFA, a seminar on: “Trade and investment promotion between Kazakhstan and Ethiopia” was held by The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Ethiopia, the Center for the Development of Trade Policy “QazTrade” of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Export Insurance Company “KazakhExport” and the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Representatives of the business circles of Addis Ababa, interested in the supply of Kazakh goods to the market of Ethiopia and other African countries, as well as in the development of bilateral trade and exports of Ethiopian products, attended the event, held in a hybrid format.
The seminar participants were acquainted with the course of economic reforms of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, conducted in the country in the context of creating a new, fair and inclusive Kazakhstan, based on the principles of socio-economic justice, intolerance to corruption, fair and equitable competition and efficient allocation of resources, by Ambassador Barlybay Sadykov.
The great potential for increasing mutual trade between Ethiopia and Kazakhstan was noted by Deputy Secretary General of the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Associations Zekarias Assefa.
Ethiopia is the largest market among the countries of East Africa, due to a population of more than 120 million people, and an aviation transit hub on the African continent, due to convenient access to the market of the East African Community. According to the representative of AACCIA, an increase in trade turnover with Kazakhstan is expected.
A presentation on the trade, economic and investment potential of Kazakhstan was made at the seminar by Galym Nurgazinov, Director of the Project Development Department of JSC Center for Development of Trade Policy “QazTrade”, and Armana Bekbasova, Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Export Insurance Company “KazakhExport”.
Great interest was aroused by the information presented by the Kazakh participants among businessmen of Ethiopia, who made proposals for the development of cooperation with Kazakhstan, establishing direct contacts with businessmen of our country, creating joint ventures. Many practical questions concerning doing business with Kazakhstan were also asked.
Tadesse Sisay, Managing Director of the “Sendros” trading company, highlighted the necessity of solving the main barrier in trade – logistics issues.
According to Sisay, significant trade opportunities of Kazakhstan were learnt today. Demand for Kazakh products in the Ethiopian market may be great. She expressed her opinion that the main task was to build logistics routes for the mutual supply of goods.
The plans for cooperation with Kazakhstan were spoken about by Ermeyas Asfaw, General Manager of “Edcon” PLC.
According to him, import of plastic and other petrochemical products from Kazakhstan presents a great interest for the company. Demand for these goods is great in Ethiopia, and it is necessary to find reliable partners in Kazakhstan.
Significant opportunities for the growth of mutual trade between Kazakhstan and Ethiopia are confirmed by the experts, and the decision was made to work closely to eliminate such barriers as the lack of direct communications to support trade, the lack of information about differences in technical standards, permits and accompanying documents, the development and proposal of mutually beneficial logistics routes for the supply of goods.
Interest in working together in these areas was expressed by the seminar participants. They are going to organize meetings and look for partners to increase bilateral trade.
The amount of 280.6 thousand US dollars, which is 2.9 times higher than in the same period of the previous year (95.7 thousand US dollars), was reached by the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Ethiopia in January – September 2022. The import of Ethiopian goods to Kazakhstan (coffee, live plants, flowers, vegetables, clothing and textiles) accounted for almost 100% of the turnover.
There is a general growth of the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and all African countries, and the increase of the trade turnover of Kazakhstan with Ethiopia corresponds to this trend. It reached $849.2 million in nine months of 2022, which is 1.3 times more compared to the same period in 2021 ($380 million). Exports of Kazakh goods to African countries exceed imports from this continent and reached 624.6 million US dollars (1.8 times increase), imports reached 224.6 million US dollars (40% growth).

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