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Ethiopia is to begin the export of Damask Oil, an essential oil extracted from Rosa Damascena (a type of rose) beginning in August of 2012. The oil will be exported by Terra plc to Germany, to a company called Walla Gmbh.

Damask Oil used for its medicinal and cosmetic benefits can fetch as much as 7500 US dollars a liter.

Terra, owned and managed by German investor Dr. Awad Ghanem has began a trial production of the rose with 532 seedlings supplied by GTZ. The company currently has 35 thousand seedlings said Wogderes Negash, Manager of the farm found in Debre Berhan.

Ethiopia earned 213 million US dollars from the export of meat and livestock in the last 10 months announced the Ministry of Agriculture.

The export of livestock represents 71% of the revenue earned from exports while meat exports made up the difference. The revenue earned is just 62.5% of the targeted 340.4 million US dollars for the period.

Export earnings from meat and livestock is lower than expected because of the poor market ties the country has with the international livestock market said Tefera Deribew, Minister of Agriculture.

Ethiopia is set to privatize six enterprises through auction as the financial year winds down. Ghion Hotel and Awash Winery are expected to be part of the six according to sources.

The minimum price set for Ghion Hotel is expected to be between 100 and 150 million US dollars whereas the indicative price for Awash Winery will be set at 438 million birr according to unofficial sources.

This was not confirmed by Wondafrash Assefa, Director of Corporate Communications for the Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency.

Israel is interested in sharing expertise and technology in the areas of agricultural extension, research, irrigation, livestock and poultry development among other areas with Ethiopia according to Orit Noked, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the State of Israel.  

It is important to Israel to share agricultural expertise with Ethiopia said Noked at a  meeting held with Hailemariam Desalegn Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of and Tefera Deribew, State Minister for Agriculture.

The two sides agreed to establish a technical committee to identify areas of common interest to enhance bilateral relations between the two countries in the area of agricultural development.

The Ministry of Industry, Ethiopia and the Oromia Regional State signed an agreement with Turkish Investors for the development of 640 hectares of land.

The contract establishes that the investment on the land will include pharmaceutical, garment, leather processing and paper and packaging factories amongst others.

The zone will also include social service institutions such as health care, schools, technical and vocational training and hotels.

The complex will be one amongst the series of new industrial parks to be developed around the country.

The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) is set to approve a 684 million birr loan request from Dutch Velocity Dairy plc a company engaged in the making of milk and milk products. The loan will be the largest loan to the dairy sector in the bank’s history.

The loan request from the project was fast tracked as part of the bank’s plan to expedite loan requests said Tadesse Hatiya, Vice President of Credit Services with the DBE.

The bank was able to make the necessary evaluation and come to a decision within 38 days which is an improvement on the six months it used to take to process such requests in the past explained Tadesse.

Toner Assembly and Manufacturing plc launched its toner assembly and re-manufacturing plant in Ethiopia last week. The company is aiming to market its products on the domestic and regional markets.

The plant is geared towards the assembly and re-manufacture of toner cartridges, inkjet cartridges, and ribbon cartridges for Hewlett Packard, Epson, Cannon, Xerox, , Dell, Brother Lexmark, and Samsung products said Jazir Teja, Managing Director of the Company.

The products will all be branded as Cartridge King.

The House of Peoples Representatives Ethiopia ratified a double taxation avoidance agreement reached with China, Egypt, India and Sudan.

The agreement means that business owners that are nationals of these countries or Ethiopian business people operating in their jurisdiction will not be required to pay tax on the same declared income.

Taxable gains in one country will not be taxed twice by the country in which the gains are earned and in the country of residence of the business person.

Ethiopia has earned more than 1.2 billion birr in revenue from investment projects in mining exploration and production licensed in the last nine months said the Ministry of Mines.

The investment projects requested licensing in the previous budget year according to Bacha Fuji, Director of Public Relations with the ministry.

An estimated 51 investors are engaged in exploration while others are engaged in production he said.

The 2012 Pioneer Ethiopian Diaspora Business Person Award will be shared by Tadiwos Getachew, Founder and Chief Executive of Boston Partners and Zemedeneh Negatu, Managing Partner of Ernst and Young, Ethiopia and Head of Transaction Advisory Services for Ernst and Young LLP in East Africa.

The award organized for the second time by an Ethiopian Diaspora business and investment group will be held on the 14th of July at the Grand Hyatt Washington according to a statement released by the organizer.

Tadios and Zemedeneh are acknowledged for being inspirational role models for other Diaspora business people by being introducing innovation in their respective sectors and by taking risks in untested areas noted the statement.