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Ethiopia could possibly become a member of the World Trade Organization by 2014 depending on the outcome from discussion currently underway it was said.

The announcement was made during the visit to country made by Pascal Lamy, outgoing Director of the WTO. The Director General held talks with Dr. Tewdros, Adhanom, Ethiopian Foreign Minister in regards to the WTO accession process according to Nebiyu Tedla, from the office of the ministry spokesperson.

Ethiopia has been working to fulfill the requirements for membership for almost ten years and is currently in stage 4 of the process it was noted. Add a comment Add a comment

Prince Aklile Berhan Mekonnen has expressed a renewed interest in acquiring Ghion Hotel in the aftermath of the latest unsuccessful tender.

It is to be remembered that Aklile Berhan had signed a 512 million US Dollar joint venture agreement with the Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency made in 2010

The Ethiopian born prince however defaulted on the deadline for the 210 million US dollar initial payment established by the agreement. PPESA went ahead and put the hotel up for bid several times changing its terms to offer full privatization when it found no interest for a joint venture. Add a comment Add a comment

The year on year inflation rate in Ethiopia has dropped to 12.9 percent, according to data revealed by the Central Statistics Agency. The data showed that this was the lowest the inflation rate had been in the last year.

The year on year inflation rate fell from 15.6 percent in November, following a trend downwards from the 36.3 percent peak in February noted the statistics agency.

Food price inflation fell from 13.4 percent in November to 11.8 percent year-on-year in December while non-food inflation dropped  from 19.4 percent to 14.6 percent. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Standard Agency announced that it has approved 794 new and revised standards. 13 out of the total number of standards approved by the agency are intended to enforce standards for canal pumps while others are designed to regulate the construction, and textile sectors said Daniel Zenebe, Head of Communications and Public Relations with the agency.

The Ethiopian Standards Agency replaced the former Quality and Standard Authority of Ethiopia when it was officially recognized by the Ethiopian government as the national body for standards.  It performs the role of the Ethiopian Standards body for the Ethiopian government. Add a comment Add a comment