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Crescent Tech, a technology service center, is to inaugurate a Hewlett Packard service center to serve organizations and large networks in Ethiopia. The center will service international brand computers and was set up for a total capital 80 million US dollars.

Crescent is a gold partner of HP but is ready to provide services to other brands as well explained Nathnael Mamo, Accounts Manager with Crescent.

The service center will provide services including backup and recovery problems that Ethiopian organizations had to call in professionals from abroad for according to Nathnael.

The Ethiopian Home and Office Décor Expo, 2011 was dominated by imported goods it was said. The Expo was organized at the Addis Ababa Exhibition Center by the HPP Exhibition Company, Netherlands.

Various furniture companies took part in the exhibition, while products on show were said to be imports from East Asia.

Customers opt for imports because they can’t find what they want locally produced said Meron Hailu General Manager of Dream Furniture. Dream furniture imports furniture from Malaysia where good leather and bamboo products are to be found according to Meron.

The Ethiopians Airports Enterprise announced plans to inaugurate an 18 million birr bonded warehouse in Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The warehouse will be used to store duty free goods. 85% of the construction of the bonded project has been finalized said Wondim Teklu.

The construction will be completed when the machines required to assemble more buildings are brought in he explained. The construction is being undertaken by Mesfin Industrial Engineering PLC.

The bonded warehouse allows the deferment of duty payment until the goods are moved.

Ethiopian Cargo is to introduce new fees for various services it offers in Ethiopia. The new fees are expected to include charges for security screening, port handling, terminal use and terminal transfers. There were no charges for these services provided previously.

Fees will be modeled on what Ethiopian Airlines has been paying in external airport terminals. Such charges are common to goods shipped by private companies in other countries according to industry experts.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority is seeking 650 million US dollars from the African Development Bank. The authority, headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, plans to use the money to finalize the Road Sector Development Program by 2015.

The authority plans to utilize 350 million US dollars of the money it acquires from the African bank on five new projects.

Salini Construction Spa has expressed interest in constructing the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.

The Italian construction company responded to a call for interest in the design and construction of the 52 storey building. Twenty other international bidders also expressed interest in the project.

In 2009 Commercial Bank awarded the design to Universal Consultants partnering with Henn Architekten a German company. Various challenges resulted in this deal failing to materialize.

Three months ago the bank issued another invitation for consultancy services to handle the design modification and supervision.

Anteneh Assefa, Vice President of Operations at the Bank of Abyssinia has been nominated as the president of Zemen Bank, Ethiopia. The Board of Directors of Zemen Bank has submitted its nomination to the National Bank of Ethiopia.

The last president of Zemen Bank Brutawit Dawit resigned earlier this year for personal reasons. Helawi Tadesse, Senior Vice President has been acting president ever since. The board of Zemen decided upon a nominee after serious deliberation assessing professionals in the banking sector according to sources.

Ethiopian ministries of Mine, Agriculture and Industry are conducting a study to develop a national soil fertility map in collaboration with the Agriculture Transformation Agency.

The national soil fertility map is part of the plans to enhance agricultural productivity set out by the Ministry of Agriculture. The plans prioritize replenishing soil fertility and a more cautious use of fertilizers.

The map is expected to identify soil fertility in different areas said Takalign Mamo, advisor to the State Minister of MoA.

The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority amended the directive that required custom and duties to be calculated for insurance coverage to exclude diplomats.

The directive that enabled the authority to collect customs duties from insurance coverage when accidents occur had caused complaints from international and regional organizations as well as diplomatic missions.

The China-Africa Overseas Leather Factory, Ethiopia announced that Chinese tariff free policy for exports from least developed countries is a benefit.

The tariff free policy allows products to be competitive in the international market according to Yacob Tadesse, Administrative Manager of China-Africa Overseas Leather Factory.

The policy also encourages other investors to come to Ethiopia to invest because of the advantages it provides to export to China he explained.