Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs, is on official visit to India from 17-19 February 2021.
According to information obtained from Indian Embassy in Ethiopia, the Deputy Premier will hold bilateral talks with the External Affairs Minister of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar during his visits. This is the first visit of Demeke Mekonnen to Asia as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.
The high level visit to India is taking place consequent to the last visit of Foreign Minister of Ethiopia to India in 2008 for the 2nd Joint Commission Meeting held between the two countries.
India-Ethiopia Business Forum meeting
On his first day of visit to New Delhi, DPM Demeke attended the India-Ethiopia Business Forum meeting organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and the Ethiopian Embassy in New Delhi.
The event was sponsored by Indian companies, M/s. Allana, M/s. Best Garments, Ethio Cement, Goyum Group who have invested in Ethiopia. The Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan also delivered his remarks at the event. The event saw large participation of Indian companies interested to do business with Ethiopia.
At this event, Indian Business Forum (IBF) Ethiopia made a presentation on ‘business and investment opportunities in Ethiopia’. Rajeev Sharma, Co-Convenor of IBF and CMD of Anmol Paper Products and Harsh Kothari, CEO of Mohan Group represented IBF at this event. Some of the Indian companies, who are members of IBF and have their business establishments in Ethiopia, shared their good experiences of doing business in Ethiopia and the opportunities of investing in Ethiopia. During this event, IBF also felicitated Ethiopian DPM Demeke and MOS for External Affairs.
Important visit
Indian Ambassador Robert Shetkintong stated that the growing presence of Indian companies in Ethiopia forms a strong link between the two countries, contributing positive to the growing strong partnership between Ethiopia and India. As of date, there are 607 registered Indian companies in Ethiopia employing 75,000 Ethiopian nationals.
Indian investments are worth about USD 5 Billion, out of which USD 3 Billion is estimated to be on the ground. About 58.7% of Indian investment is in the manufacturing sector, followed by agriculture (15.6%). Indian companies have invested in various sectors like agriculture and floriculture, engineering, plastics, manufacturing, cotton and textiles, water management, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.
Mayur Kothari, Convener of Indian Business Forum and Chairman of Mohan Group of Companies, based in Addis Ababa welcomed the visit of Hon’ble Ethiopian DPM to India.
He stated that the visit will bring momentum to the growing bilateral relations between two countries especially in the area of business and commerce.
What is IBF?
The Indian Business Forum (IBF) was founded in 2005 and has about 200 members, who are Indian businessmen in Ethiopia. One of the main purposes for the establishment of IBF is to facilitate Indian businessmen, who are interested to invest in Ethiopia.
IBF has been regularly holding meetings of its members and have also taken up common issues of interests to Ethiopian leadership and relevant organizations.
Indian Embassy in Addis Ababa has commended the contributions of IBF in fostering and facilitating business ties between the two countries.
Ethio-India economic & trade relations
India is one of the largest trading partners of Ethiopia. During 2019, bilateral trade was about USD 1.2 billion, which slightly dipped to USD 900 million in 2020. Exports from India mainly include primary and semi-finished iron and steel products, drugs and pharmaceuticals, machinery and instruments, manufactures of metal, etc.
Major imports by India from Ethiopia were: pulses, precious and semi-precious stones, vegetables & seeds, leather and spices. India is the third most important source of imports for Ethiopia, contributing 8% of all of Ethiopian imports next to China, Kuwait and USA.
The Ethiopian Herald February 18/2021
