Ethiopia is preparing to successfully host the 2013 African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum announced the Ministry of Trade.

Committees, charged with the task of coordinating the preparation for the forum at various levels, have already been created and are expected to commence with laying the ground work for the meetings according to  Amakele Yimam, Director of the Corporate Communication Directorate with the Ministry of Trade.

The ministry has also opened lines of communications with two of the other six African countries who have already had the chance to host the AGOA Forum said Amakele. The ministry expects to learn from the experiences of the two countries, Zambia and Kenya to support Ethiopia’s opportunity to host this event he noted.

It is expected that the forum will offer the nation an important opportunity to promote its export products as well as contributing to advancing a positive national image as part of the effort to attract investors and develop conference tourism explained Amakele.

An estimated 600 participants including government leaders and private business people from the United States and African nations are expected to attend the high level dialogue on issues related to investment and trade he said.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a United States Trade Act that significantly enhances U.S. market access for 40 Sub-Saharan African countries.

Source: Walta