-Plan to channel illegal trade to formal channel
ADDIS ABABA –Ethiopia and Kenya have been hugely investing to create a seamless flow of goods and curtail irregularities in Moyale’s one-stop border post that would invigorate their trade ties, the country’s ambassador said.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald, Kenya Ambassador to Ethiopia George M. Orina stated that the two countries investment in one-stop border post areas is an important move to foster their business-to-business ties. In the long run, the move would contribute to ease contraband and other illegal activities.
Compared with the two countries’ longstanding cordial relations and their warm neighborliness, their trade exchange has not been reached at the desired level.
Last February, Ethiopia and Kenya reached an agreement to utilize the opportunity to increase the volume of their annual trade as it has a huge potential to improve. To this, both countries have deployed their business communities to explore the opportunities to enhance the commercial ties, he added.
“We plan to capitalize the illegal trade in the border areas as an opportunity and to channel the activities to the legal route. In this regard, the two governments are working to establish a framework that allows the transition of informal trade to the formal channel in a bid to bring a significant increment in the annual trade volume.”
Ambassador M. Orina further highlighted that owing to the planned measure, illegal trade in the border areas will be lessened and the two governments are determined to address bottlenecks and remove restrictions and incentivize those who will follow the legal channels.
Moreover, strengthening partnership and business-to-business relations would increase the volume of trade and investment between the two countries and ensure their mutual benefits.
Hence, due attention has been given to enhance the taxation system and address the issue of standards, infrastructure and bureaucratic setbacks and other bottlenecks to improve trading volume, he remarked.
BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 26 APRIL 2024
