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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According to the Statistical Committee, the biggest share in Armenia’s exports in the first 9 months of this year belonged to mineral products, whereas in the imports, machinery, equipment and mechanisms had it.
An increase by 63.8% compared to the same period of the previous year was shown by Armenia’s exports in January-September (3 billion 509 million 421.2 thousand dollars).
The export to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) grew up 2.4 times compared to the same period of the past year and comprised 1 billion 467 million 370.5 thousand dollars.
The export to the member states of the European Union rose up by 23.9% compared to the same period of the previous year (totally 606 million 568.3 thousand dollars).
Mineral products was the most exported product by Armenia– 785 million 398.5 thousand dollars (4.2 times increase compared to the same period of the previous year). Ready-made food products followed the mineral products and attained a 44.7% increase compared to January-September 2021 (605 million 400.7 thousand dollars).
Precious and semi-precious stones, precious metals and items made of precious metals were the next. Their export volume increased 2.7 times compared to the same period of the previous year and attained 597 million 341.0 thousand dollars.
Machines, equipment and mechanisms are the first in terms of import volumes– 1 billion 109 million 076.2 thousand dollars (an 84.9% increase compared to the same period of the previous year). The mineral products came after them with 858 million 430.1 thousand dollars (a 32.7% growth compared to the same period of the previous year).

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According to Georgian economy minister Levan Davitashvili, the country could play the “leading” role in the process of connecting the countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asian regions with the European Union.
As the European Commissioner for Energy and Adina Vălean, the Commissioner for Transport said making the comment following the meeting between Davitashvili and Kadri Simson, Georgia had “confidence and unconditional historical advantages” to fulfil the role.
A “very important work” done by the Georgian government throughout the past year to ensure Central Asian states and to “closely connect” Azerbaijan and other regional states with the EU was highlighted by the minister.
According to him, Georgia could also play an “important role” in the economic security and development of Europe.
According to Davitashvili, alternative sources of energy supply are being looked for by Europe, as well as alternative routes for the European economy in general, alternative connection with Asia and main trade partners – in this regard, Georgia can become an important and reliable partner, which the country is able to do today, and the potential of this cooperation is even greater.
It was stressed by the Georgian official that sectoral integration was an “important prerequisite” for the country to finally become a full member of the EU.
Davitashvili said that the European Commissioners noted that Georgia has fulfilled more than 60 percent of its obligations defined by the agreement [with the EU] on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, and recognized it as an important prerequisite for Georgia’s progress towards EU membership to continue.

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