The Swedish based agro forestry company VIP disclosed it is keen to invest in Ethiopia’s forestry. The announcement was made during a press briefing organized by the company and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Managing partner of VIP, Akal Mamo, during the event said, “As per our desire, we were working for the past seven months to prepare memorandum of understanding (MoU), which we expect to be signed soon with Ministry of Forestry and Environmental Protection (MoFEP)”.

VIP intends to start a project it dubbed Paulownia Forest Project. The project will enable the company to produce fast growing multipurpose trees which naturally provide ethanol, that serves for hardwood timber.

The project is expected to cost USD 200 million and it is planned to be undertaken in degraded lands of Oromia State, Amhara State, Tigray State and Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples State, Teka explained.

During the press briefing presentation of three companies that are known to engage and interested to invest in the sectors of diary, milk and sugar took place.

According to Fortune, forestry as a sector contributes 90 percent of Sweden’s GDP.

Source: Fortune