2merkato

Ethiopia and South Korea signed an agreement to avoid double taxation on the 5th of December in Addis Ababa.  The agreement is planned to promote investment opportunity and enhance economic development it was said.

The agreement is intended to help the two countries avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion on income taxes it was said at the signing ceremony. The agreement is also expected to create favorable conditions in relation to capital flow and the free movement of individuals for business as well as other benefits.

The agreement was signed by Ahmed Shide, Finance and Economic Development State Minister and Kim Hyok Chol, South Korean Ambassador to Ethiopia, signed the agreement.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The management of Ethio Telecom will be handed over to Ethiopian staff once again as of December 13th. It is to be remembered France Telecom, the French telecom giant, had been managing the company on a contract bases since 2010.

France Telecom was given a two year contract to manage the state owned Ethio Tlecom with the intention of boosting telecom operations in the country, according to Dr Debretsion Gebre Michael, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information and Communication.

This contact will expire end of this month. The contract will not be extended further and Ethio Telecom is not negotiating with any other foreign based telecom for further management contract said Dr Debretsion.

Kenya Airways issued an invitation to merge to Ethiopian Airlines and South Airways. The Kenyan airline extended the invitation in a bid to become more competitive on the global market and to face the challenge from large non African airlines.

The invitation was issued at the 44th African Airlines Association Annual General Assembly held in Johannesburg last week. The idea of the sub-Saharan allies merging to create a union to withstand the current global competition was suggested by Titus Naikuni, CEO of Kenya Airways speaking at the conference.

The proposal was accepted in principle by Tewolde GebreMariam CEO of Ethiopian Airlines. Size is an important factor in the aviation sector which depends on economies of scale he noted. As far as Ethiopian Airlines is concerned the idea of a major pan-African Airway is considered positively said Tewolde.

The Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency said that it intended privatization of 20 public enterprises in the current Ethiopian budget year according to an announcement made on 1st December.    

The agency anticipates that it will earn more than 3.3 billion Birr from the privatization efforts planned for this year said Wondafrash Assefa Corporate Communication Director for the agency.

17 of the enterprises are expected to be sold directly in the privatization process said Wondafrash.