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Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia’s flag carrier, launched a program to invite journalists and tour operators to join in its efforts to promote tourism. The first team of internationally recognized journalists and tour operators arrived in Ethiopia as part of the implementation of the program.

The visitors are expected to promote the tourist attractions in the country.

Micro and small enterprises have earned more than 15 million US dollars on the international market in the last nine months according to the Federal Micro and Small Enterprise Development Agency.

A range of exports produced by small enterprises including textiles and handicrafts have been able to meet international standards set by foreign markets said Assefa Ferede, Director of the Public Relations and Communications Directorate with the agency.

All regional bodies are working together to identify and register enterprises that have the capacity to export to the foreign markets while the agency is working towards creating networks with various embassies to promote their products in foreign markets he said.

The Ministry of Trade, Ethiopia awarded exporters of oilseeds, pulses, cereals and spices that registered better performance. The award was given by Kebede Chane, the Minister of Trade.

Ethiopia has secured 461 million US dollars from the sector in the past nine months said Kebede at the award ceremony.

Oilseeds, pulses, cereals and spices exporters need to work in a coordinated manner to enhance the income that the country can get from the sector he noted.

Compulsory Third Party Insurance Coverage in Ethiopia is to include vehicles with temporary and daily vehicle license plates who had avoided the insurance so far.

The letter requiring all vehicles seeking temporary and daily license plates to get compulsory third party insurance coverage was issued in the beginning of April by the Federal Transport Authority to regional branch offices.

Vehicle owners are required to present customs declaration forms, import licenses, bills of lading and pink papers from the FTA to ensure that all vehicles stated on the declaration forms are brought into the country to get the temporary license plates.

Elfora Agro Industry inaugurated a modern slaughterhouse for export services in Ethiopia. The facility was constructed at a cost of more than 15 million birr making the number of slaughterhouses owned by the company to six.

The new slaughterhouse is designed to prepare fresh meat on the bones for export purposes. It has the potential capacity to slaughter and store18 tons of goats and sheep daily. The facility will work for three days a week to provide a total of 54 tons of fresh meat a week, 216 tons a month and 2,400 tons per annum.

The waiting area of the slaughterhouse can accommodate 10,000 goats and sheep and 4,000 cattle.

Cartridge King, Ethiopia is to expand its assembly and manufacturing operations to include ink and ribbon cartridges in the coming months.

The company wishes to a set a new standard with a state of the art facility to assemble new cartridges or to re-manufacture ‘virgin cartridges’ un-tampered by the ‘drill and fill’ operations popular in Ethiopia said Jazir Teja, Managing Director of the company.

Cartridge King has the capacity and the machinery to produce 15,000 toners, 2,000 ribbon cartridges and 5,000 ink cartridges every month he said. The company aims to establish a reputation as reliable brand with the eventual aim of expanding to the regional market.

The Aviation Academy of Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia’s flag carrier, graduated 20 pilots and 22 Aviation Maintenance Technicians at a ceremony held at the airline headquarters on the 30th of April.

The graduating pilots completed more than 695 hours of classroom and Multi-Engine aircraft training which included 60 hours of in flight training devices. The graduates have also qualified the ICAO level-1 English proficiency requirement as part of their training.

The Aviation Maintenance Technicians graduates have been trained with B737 Aircraft Avionics system course which enabled them to acquire the required theoretical and practical knowledge to qualify then as Aviation Technicians.

The Coffee Plantation Development Enterprise of Ethiopia earned 209 million birr from the sale of coffee this fiscal year it reported.

The revenue was earned from the sale of more than 75,000 quintals of coffee that the enterprise supplied to domestic and international markets according to Fesseha Tekle Director General of the CPDE.

The most important international export destinations for the enterprise are Belgium, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands and Russia he noted.

Rose Chemicals, from Turkey and Swiss companies, CHT-Bazema and Textile Color AG, have been selected for an exclusive arrangement to supply chemicals to the textile industry in Ethiopia with a commitment to set up factories in the next five years.  

The Textile Industry Development Institute and the Ministry of Industry invited 15 international companies to make offers following persistent complaint from the textile sector about challenges associated with chemical imports.

After reviewing five proposals the three companies were selected as exclusive textile chemical suppliers in Ethiopia enjoying duty free privileges. The three companies were selected on criteria that included European quality certification, supply capacity and their commitment to respect the customs bonded warehouse rules of the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority.

The African Development Bank is set to invest 22.6 million US dollars to enhance the renewable energy programs in low income countries including those that are active in Ethiopia. The investment plan was endorsed by the SREP’s sub-committee at a meeting held in Nairobi in March.

The investment plan, approved in principle, calls for technical support and guidance from the African Bank to prepare and implement the Assela wind farm project and Phase II of the Aluto Langano geothermal project.

Grants for project preparation of 1.7 million and 900 thousand US dollars were approved for both projects.