The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry led a business and government delegation to Ethiopia in order to explore new business opportunities to further expand bi-lateral trade and tourism ties between Ethiopia and Dubai.
With a primary focus of exploring investment opportunities in Ethiopia’s booming tourism and real estate sectors, the DCCI-led delegation met with their business counterparts in Ethiopia at a special B2B session organised at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Addis Ababa.
Organized jointly by the UAE Embassy in Addis Ababa and the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce, the two-day business forum brought together businesses from Dubai and Ethiopia for one-on-one discussions to further cement cooperation and networking among major stakeholders in the tourism, real estate and trading sectors.
Dubai Chamber of Commerce has opened its office in Addis Ababa in 2014, making it the first office in the African continent.
“We are seeking ways to further expand our bi-lateral trade ties with Ethiopia eversince we opened our office in 2014,” said Omar Abdulaziz Khan, Director of International Office under the International Relations of Dubai Chamber of Commerce “Now, there are lots of opportunities,” he said.
“Tourism business business is booming in Ethiopia. The connectivity is already there, as we already have Ethiopian Airlines, Fly Dubai and Emirates. This is a beautiful place to visit, with diverse culture, people and food,” said Omar Abdulaziz Khan. “We represent around 90 million passengers annually and 75 million of these passengers go to destinations all across the world. So, we are looking at how we can bring some of those passengers to Ethiopia,” he said.
During the opening session of the business forum, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Trade and Industry, Misganu Arega said that Ethiopia has been working to use UAE’s enormous trade and investment potential, capitalizing on its wider business opportunities and geographic proximity.
Misganu said that the government has formulated favourable investment policies and has allocated the bulk of its budget to infrastructural development, to facilitate conditions for investors who want to do business in the country.
Representatives from the Ethiopian Investment Commission as well as the Ethiopian Industrial Parks Development Corporation presented the necessary business information, facts and data currently available in the Ethiopian investment and business environment.
The two-day business forum is sure to play an important role in attracting investments from Dubai into Ethiopia’s booming tourism and real estate sectors. On the other hand, it will pave the way in expanding Ethiopia’s exports to Dubai in the coming years.
