The Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in Brussels hosted a business round table promotion event on the 6th of October 2022. The event aimed at enlightening the #Benelux business communities about the untapped business opportunities in the different sectors in Ethiopia.
Mr Thewodros Berhanu, chair of Belgo Ethiopian Association (#BEA), and Mr Mouctar Bah, president of Brussels Africa Hub (#BAH) took part as organizers. In addition, Brussels Enterprise Commerce, and Industry (#BECI), Walloon Export and Foreign Investment Agency (#AWEX), Flanders Investment and Trade (#FIT), Hub Brussels (#HUB), and Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture Belgium-Luxembourg- Africa- Caribbean- Pacific (#CBL, #ACP) partnered in organizing this event.
The panel of the roundtable was composed of four speakers including Mr. Temesgen Tilahun, Deputy Commissioner of Ethiopian Investment Commission (#EIC), Mr. Shibeshi Bettemariam, Secretary General of Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectorial Associations (#AACSA) as well as two Belgian firms ,Mr. Zeco Ebro Kassim, General Manager of Puratos for the Horn of Africa and Mr.Guillaume Accarain from BIO.
The presentation by Mr. Temesgen Tilahun, focused at Explaining the favorable investment climate in Ethiopia, and he also invited companies from Benelux countries for a business visit to Ethiopia and thereby conduct assessment to seize the opportunities and examine the enabling environment. Mr. Shibeshi Bettemariam, on his part, explained about ease of doing business in Ethiopia and activities carried out by the Chamber to support international businesses.
Mr. Zeco Ebro Kassim General Manager of Puratos, one of the successful Belgian companies in Ethiopia, shared his experience about doing business in Ethiopia. Activities of the Belgian Development Finance Institution in Ethiopia were also discussed by Mr. Guillaume Accarain.
From invited guests, among others, Mr. Zemedeneh Negatu, head of Fairfax Africa, in his part, profiled important developments in the privatisation and liberalisation drives in the finance sector.
The Area Manager of the #EthiopianAirlines in Benelux, Mr Gemechis Tujuba had highlighted the stong intervention that the airlines is making to global business links including the Benelux.
The Embassy of Ethiopia hopes the roundtable event will further strengthen business links between the Public/ private sectors of the two sides. It also expresses to all the partners,panalists and invited guests for making the event a fruitful one.