ADDIS ABABA– Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) has drafted a new investment proclamation to modernize the service delivery and attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Ease of doing business is among the prior agenda of the government and EIC announced that a discussion was held Thursday to collect input from the concerned bodies regarding issues which are taken as challenges for both local and foreign investors to invest in the country.
Ethiopian Investment Commi ssioner Abebe Abebayehu told The Ethiopian Herald that the country is using investment proclamation, which was last amended in 2012. The commissioner says to create conducive business climate and provide active service delivery for private sectors the proclamation needs to be amended to accommodate modern ways of service delivery.
Investment flow to the country is increasing from time to time and the country is now one of the top investment destinations in Africa and top from East Africa. Even though the country attracts large amount of FDI over the past year, compared to its potential the flow is still very low. Hence it needs to take further actions to raise the FDI to the maximum of its potential.
One of the measures is adopting a new proclamation in a modern ways by the support of technology Commissioner pointed out.
Abebe further stated that the new proclamation which is going to be adopted soon will be referred to the Ethiopian investment board chaired by the Prime Minister and expected to be ratified in the next fiscal years. Ethiopia does not yet have specific investment policy; however elements of investment policy can be derived from the country’s broad statement of development objective sector development policies and the investment laws.
Among the challenges with the existing proclamation is the registration and application procedure which requires the applicant to be physically present. To overcome these kinds of hardship EIC has launched an online service platform where investors can apply for new investment license and renewing investment permit online, he noted.
The platform aimed at providing efficient and reliable investment for investors regardless of geographical locations and allow investors to be able to access and register their investment license without physical presence online.
On the other hand sectors like tourism and ICT which are capable of creating huge job were not given due attention. The new proclamation which will be adopted soon gives priority to the sector. In addition the proclamation will strengthen the relations of foreign and local investors and able to transfer technology and experience sharing, as to him.
The revision of investment law has been dictated by the need to modernize the investment regulatory and administrative framework and also align investment legal regime with recent changes in economic policy. In addition it is important to revisit the investment areas and open to the private sector, he stressed.
Moreover it is important to adopt best practice for efficient investment administration service and develop faster and more transparent way of providing service, Abebe says..
The Ethiopian Herald July6/2019
BY HAILE DEMEKE
