2merkato

Revenue from remittance in Ethiopia showed an increase in the second half of the fiscal year out performing earnings from exports according to the National Bank of Ethiopia.

Private transfers of remittance totaled 1.74 billion dollars in the last seven months of the financial year which is a 19.6% increase from the same period in the last financial year explained Teklewold Atnafu, Governor of the National bank in a report presented to the House of Peoples Representatives.

The lower than expected export earnings, and 140 million US dollars less than revenue from remittance, has had a negative effect on the trade of balance with increase in imports and rising inflation.

Ethiopia revealed plans to develop 46 additional projects in the textile industry by 2015 to increase the revenue from the sector to 2.5 billion US dollars at the end of the time.

It is expected that six of the projects will become operational during the next financial year with a further 18 being launched in the year after; the remaining 22 will be operational in the years up to the end of the 5 years GTP period, 2015.

Two of the anticipated projects are expected to be cotton ginning industries; four are spinning industries, a knitting industry, seven weaving and one finished woven textile industry.

A Malaysian Business Delegation visited Ethiopia for the first time. The visit was part of a ten day business trip including three African nations.

The delegation made up of representatives from seven Malaysian companies includes delegates from various sectors including household items, detergents, electronics and automotive batteries according to  Aureen Jean Nonis, Director of Lifestyle Section-Africa  with Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation.

The rubber and palm oil sectors were not represented by this trip because Malaysian companies are already engaged in Ethiopia which is a larger importer of palm oil from Malaysia.

Fafa Foods SC has become the first company to produce full cream milk powder in Ethiopia.

The company has introduced ten new products including, flour, instant yeast, soya milk corn flakes and a range of snacks since it was turned over to new management.

Fafa is working to meet local demand through import substitution with locally prepared alternatives costing an average of 40% less than the imported varites said Dr. Berhanu Mosissa, Director of Sales and Marketing with the company.

The Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency of Ethiopia is expected to put up nine state owned farms for privatization in the next financial year. PPESA plans to privatize the farms on a full management agreement.

The nine farms to be privatized are the five farms operated by Arsi Agricultural Development Enterprise and the four managed under the Bale Agricultural Development Enterprise.

The AADE farms are Arba Gugu, Goffer, Garadila, Lole and Temela while the BADE farms consist of Sinana, Robe, Herero and Hunte farms.

Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia’s flag carrier, is to launch cargo flights to Europe and the Middle East from airports in Bahirdar and  Mekelle.

The groundbreaking initiative is intended to promote investment in regional cities by allowing businesses located there direct access to international markets said Dereba Kuma, Minister of Transport.

The airline expects to provide cargo services for meat and horticultural products from these airports explained Dereba presenting the seven month performance report for the transport sector to the House of Peoples Representatives.

The Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency approved the bids made by MIDROC Ethiopia and affiliated companies for five of the eight companies up for privatization.

The approval from the agency was announced last week at the same time the agency declined the offer made for Awash Winery and withheld making a decision on offers for two other companies.

MIDROC Ethiopia and affiliated companies, Horizon Plantation Ethiopia, National Mining Corporation and Saudi Star Agricultural Development, proffered the highest bids for five of the eight companies put forward for auction by PPESA.

Ethiopia’s export earning are up by 16.6% in the last eight months as compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year noted data released by the Ministry of Trade.

Revenue from export was 1.87 billion US dollars while earnings for the same period last year was 1.6 billion US dollars.

The increase in revenue was due to higher earnings from oil seeds and gold although the revenue from the number one national export coffee has shown a decline showed the report.

A delegation of British business people held talks with representatives of Ethiopia’s business sector to explore opportunities for commerce in both countries.

The delegation, made up of 10 representatives from London met with more than 30 Ethiopian business representatives.

The discussions held with the delegation from the UK will promote the flow of information, enhance knowledge development, promote the transfer of skills and technology and strengthen confidence for bargaining as well as removing barriers against business interaction according to Teferi Asfaw, Deputy Secretary General of the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations.

Metal industries in Ethiopia need to implement Non-Destuctive Testing technology to ensure that products meet international standards according to Dr. Abdul Nasser, Industrial Technology Section Head with the Malaysian Nuclear Agency.

NDT technology is a mechanism to guarantee quality and allow industrial products to gain competitiveness on the global market he said at a training held in Addis Ababa.

The technology will contribute toward the development of the industrial sector in developing countries noted Dr. Nasser.