by Mr. Adamu Assefa Mukura, Deputy Consul General of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in Shanghai

On the occasion

of China-Africa Private Sector Cooperation Summit, Hangzhou

Your Excellency

Excellency Mr.

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to extend my appreciation and deepest gratitude on behalf of the Government of Ethiopia and that of myself to All- China Federation of Industry and Commerce and the Zhejiang Provincial Government for organizing such a wonderful moment of China-Africa Private Sector Cooperation Summit. I have also brought a heartfelt salute and congratulations to the people and the Provincial government of Hangzhou for staging such attractive summit at the land of paradise of Hangzhou city with a compelling theme '' deepening China-Africa private economic cooperation''.

I am very glad that to speak as guest speaker on behalf my government at a time exactly 2 days after the FOCAC Summit in Beijing was successfully accomplished with the presence of my new prime minister Dr. Abey Ahmed.  This is really historical movement and an encouraging stride to all of us, we truly celebrate it.

I am confident that this cooperation platform promote, further enhance and strengthening of economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa in general and with Ethiopia in Particular.

As the Chinese economy moves to the upper ladder, its investment has become instrumental in addressing structural and logistic challenges in Africa. The Chinese leadership has been advocating and working hard for close cooperation between China and Africa through various initiatives such as “Go Global”, “One Belt One Road”, “Production Capacity Cooperation” and many more.  These are pillars in China’s foreign business drive to help companies make overseas investments. In this regard, the relocation of labor-intensive manufacturing industry such as textile and apparel, leather, pharmaceutical, agriculture and agro-processing is vital for Ethiopia. To this end, Ethiopia has made impressive investment in economic infrastructure to create conducive investment environment. There is no more proof for this than the “2017 United Nations Award” as well as the “2017 Star Reformer Award” from the World Bank Group provided to Ethiopia in recognition of its outstanding performance and exceptional achievements in promoting and facilitating foreign direct investment.

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen

 The recent initiatives made by the Chinese government are quite important decisions and considered to be imperative for those countries, including Ethiopia to make the necessary steps to move away from foreign aid and becoming significant role-players in a global economy. I would also like to point out the fact that Ethiopia is currently taking the necessary steps in order to realize this objective. To mention some of the achievements of Ethiopia-China Cooperation.

In the area of  Infrastructure

Investment on infrastructure like road, railway port, and industrial park plays a crucial role to boost economic growth and prosperity, increase productivity and create jobs essential in order to maintain the economic momentum of the country. The double digit growth registered for the last 15 consecutive years in Ethiopia is mainly due to huge public infrastructure investment supported by its strategic partner, China. The most popular and famous Addis Ababa ring road project, Gotera Interchange Project constructed by Shanghai Construction Group (SCG), the 34.3km long Addis Ababa Light Rail, Addis Ababa-Adama Expressway, Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway project and the ongoing project such Bole International Airport expansion and Dire Dewa Dewanle road project are some the successful achievements made through Ethio-China cooperation that can be an epitome of south-south cooperation.

In the area of  Energy Development

The Government of Ethiopia is striding to meet the rising energy demand in the country and it has made a huge public investment for its infrastructure and power generation from clean sources such as hydropower, wind power, geothermal and solar. In this regard, China has played a vital role in providing project finance for Ganale-Dawa Hydro power, Adama-I wind power, Adama-II wind power, the electro mechanical and steel work of Gibe-III hydropower and 1,136km high voltage power transmission line and etc.

In the area of  Industry Development and Agriculture Modernization

To expedite the economic transformation of the country the Government of Ethiopia focusing on light manufacturing industries such as textile and garment, leather and leather product, agro processing, pharmaceutical and building materials. In addition to a number of Chinese private companies engaged in Ethiopia, China has invested on the development of different private Industrial Park, and investment on the public projects like agricultural facilities and Sugar refining factory, Ogaden Natural Gas and Oil project and China Development Bank (CDB) supported Ethiopia’s Micro, Small and Medium enterprises by granting credit facilities to Development Bank of Ethiopia.

The participation of the Government of China in this important sector is a strategic decision which is compatible to the Growth and Transformation Plan geared towards modernizing and transforming agriculture to agro-processing industry that could assist to increase production and productivity as well as poverty reduction in the country. Since 2001, China has dispatched 17 agricultural experts’ missions to Ethiopia Agricultural Technical Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) Colleges for trainings. Up to 2016, Chinese instructors have trained 2,100 teachers, 13,000 agriculture technicians and 39,000 students and transferred a number of practical technologies that benefit our farmers through ATVET system. This has contributed a lot in transforming the Agricultural sector to increase production and productivity

In the area of Social Services

In the areas of social sectors such as education, telecom, health and providing potable water, human capacity building, Ethiopia has made notable achievements in the last two decades. Over the last 20 years, the Government has invested heavily in education, health system, telecom, and provision of water for urban and rural communities. As a result, remarkable achievements have been gained in meeting most of the MDG targets. China has its own place in supporting Ethiopia to register impressive result in the social sector as well. In this regard, Tirunesh - Beijing Hospital, Addis Ababa Poly Technology College and Addis Ababa water supply projects are a few among many to mention.

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen

As  you are  well aware, Chinese  Public and Private enterprises are biggest investor, largest trading and development partner of Ethiopia. I must state that China’s investment in the areas of infrastructure development, manufacturing, energy development, social sector  and others in Ethiopia has indeed been highly valuable in assisting us to unlock our economic potential and attract Foreign Direct Investment.

Therefore, for the way forward , China and Ethiopia need to boost their partnership to scale up the successes achieved so far and bolster the participation of economic actors in growth corridors established in Ethiopia. It is also important for the two countries to expand more economic zones to continually attract productive investment in a bid to benefit from production capacity cooperation’s, employment generation and sustainable economic transformation. Ethiopia should exert more concerted efforts to tap into the huge reservoir of much needed investment, human resource development  and loans for development by enhancing its absorption and efficiency of its institutions.

In conclusion,    I would like to confidently say that, today Ethiopia is a new face and it is a great place to invest and do business. I, therefore, would like to take this opportunity to encourage all of you to consider investing in Ethiopia and to bring the required knowledge and technology. As I mentioned before, there are many opportunities in Ethiopia, the returns are good, protection is guaranteed and incentives are really competitive.

  I thank you