A one-day Ethiopia-Uganda Business Forum has been held in Kampala, Uganda, organized by the Ethiopian Embassy in Uganda, in collaboration with the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Melaku Ezezew, President of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, and Olive Z. Kigongo, President of the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, gave presentations on trade and investment opportunities their countries can offer.

At the forum, both sides discussed the shared problem of being landlocked and possible ways of tackling the same. Moreover, participants of the forum identified poor infrastructure, bureaucratic bottlenecks and limited access to foreign direct investment (FDI) as additional challenges that both Ethiopia and Uganda face, and discussed ways of tackling those as well. 

Strong people-to-people relations has been raised as a potentially instrumental tool, that can result in strong market ties in the future. Members of the Ethiopian Public Diplomacy team have presented traditional musical shows on subsequent dinner parties in Kampala.

More than a hundred businesspeople took part in the forum.

Sources: The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Official Facebook Page), FBC