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Ethiopian Airlines took charge of its first B 777 Freighter this week. The airline is the first operator to take charge of and operate the new aircraft on the African Continent.

The B777 Freighter aircraft is unique for its performance in its category of aircraft with notable long-range capability, special capabilities in temperature control for fresh produce and life science materials, exceptional cargo capacity and fuel efficiency according to Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines.

The airline intends to deploy this aircraft on longer routes to transport fruits and vegetables and flowers to expand and improve the cargo services it offers as well as supporting the fast growing export sector in the country he said.

A delegation of business and government representatives from the Czech Republic and a member of the International Chamber of Commerce held discussions with the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations on bilateral trade and investment opportunities in Ethiopia.

The economic policies adopted by the governments of the two countries in the last 20 years have served to promote direct trade between the business communities in the two countries said Gebrehiwot Gebreegzihber member of the ECCSA board of Directors.

As consequence of such policies the trade between the two countries has grown from just 312 thousand US dollars in 2004 to more than 12 million US dollars this year he said.

The 9th International Construction Exhibition was launched in Addis Ababa under the theme of ‘Construction: Password to Renaissance.’

More than 110 participants are taking part in the exhibition out of which number eleven are international participants.

The contribution of the construction sector to the economy has been growing due to the proper attention given by the government said Hailemeskel Tefera, Minister for Urban Development and Construction.

The sector has grown by 25% in the last years as compared to growth in the year previous to that he said.

The Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research inaugurated the Agricultural Quality Research Laboratory. The crop testing laboratory is expected to help enhance the quality of national agricultural products to become more competitive on the international market.

The Ministry of Agriculture launched the first agricultural products quality monitoring and testing laboratory to serve as the main national quality monitoring unit for coffee and other agricultural products, about two years ago noted Tefera Deribaw, Minister of Agriculture speaking  at the inauguration ceremony.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is to host the 15th Cooperation for urban Mobility in the Developing World Conference. The conference will be held from the 22-26th of October under the theme of ‘Urban Mobility for (Re) Shaping Cities’ according to the organizing committee.

The conference is intended to facilitate the exchange of ideas on policy, research and coordinated transport management explained Bedilu Assefa, Chairperson of the organizing committee.

The conference will also create an opportunity to learn from the best practices of different countries and promote unexploited investment opportunities in Ethiopia and create trade links in line with national development goals he said.

The African Development Bank has approved a 7 million US dollar equity investment into the Pan-African Housing Fund.

The fund is a private equity fund targeting lower and middle, middle class housing market in Africa. The investment by the African Bank is expected to finance the construction of 5100 additional single and multi-family residences in targeted urban areas.

The PAHF will be able to support local housing developers to develop projects to alleviate the great shortage of housing and related infrastructure to meet the every growing needs of increasing urbanization.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority revealed plans to construct and repair 2216 kilometers of roads this financial year. The road construction and repair program is expected to cost an estimated 8 billion birr.

More than 1022 kilometers of the total road program will consist of new road construction according to Samson Wondimu Communications Director for the Roads Authority.

The road projects are intended to foster closer market links across the country as well as reducing the cost of transport and the time required for farmers to transport their produce to markets he said.

The current program is also designed to take into account the needs of emerging states to ensure equitable development across the nation explain Samson.

The Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency is to officially hand over six state coffee farms and four other enterprises to private investors.

PPESA is also expected to give a final decision with regards to Batu Construction, Awash Winery, Coffee Technology Development Enterprise, Ghion Hotel and the seven coffee farms under Limu Coffee Farm and its headquarters in Jimma town.

The Board of PPESA which is in charge of approving the sale of privatization of any public enterprise and are expected to approve the transfer to winners of the bidding process.

Assela Malt Factory, Ethiopia is secured 95 million birr in gross from the sale of malt in the previous financial year.

The revenue was earned from the sale of 218 thousand quintals of malt according to Abera Mekonnen, Head of Plan and Information for the factory.

The profit earned in the fiscal year exceeds that earned in the year before by more than 31 million birr he noted. The factory is generating more profit from year to year to coordinated effort on the part of the factory employees said Abera.

A delegation of representative of French and Djiboutian business visited Ethiopia last week. The delegation was led by Banque Pour Le Commerce et L’Industrie - Mer Rouge (BCIMR) in Djibouti and its French parent BRED Banque Populaire.

The delegation is made up of a diverse group of 10 members with backgrounds ranging from banking to aviation and insurance.

Company’s represented include a company dealing with medical products and health care, an insurance college and long time Canadian partner and the International Bank of Canada said Emmanuel Lemoigne Director General of BRED.