Ethiopia advises Dutch investors to diversify investments

Ethiopia advises investors from the Netherlands (Dutch investors) to diversify their investments from the horticuture and flower industry and engage in other sectors the East African country is offering.

During the webnar held on Thursday Million Samuel Ambassador of Ethiopia to the Netherlands advised Dutch Companies not to be limited in floriculture / horticulture and explore new areas of cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, energy, ICT and service sectors as well.

The Netherlands, with over 150 investments in Ethiopia, is the largest investor from European countries and accounted for the 5.23 percent of Ethiopia’s export, making it the 6th largest export destination of Ethiopian goods.

Ethiopia, as a major economic partner of the Netherlands, has become one of the fifteen countries included in the ‘African Strategy of the Dutch Private Sector’ developed to stimulate Dutch companies to do business with Africa.

Ambassador Million expressed his hope that the excellent business relations between Ethiopia and Netherlands will be further strengthened post-COVID-19.

The webinar is organized by the Netherlands-Africa Business Council (NABC), entitled ‘Doing Business in Ethiopia’. The main topic of the webinar was ‘How to build stronger trade ties between the Netherlands and Ethiopia post COVID-19?’

The webinar was organized as part of the implementation of the recently launched Africa Strategy in the Netherlands while taking into consideration the impact of COVID-19.

The webinar has brought together some 40 Dutch companies from different sectors, local partners and different stakeholders all together, according to the information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.

Panelists in the webinar included , Ms. Laurenske van den Heuvel-Gerestein, Policy Officer for Trade and Investment in the Embassy of the Netherlands in Addis Ababa, Mr. Nahom F. Abraham, Executive Director of the European Union Business Forum and two Dutch investors in Ethiopia (Crown Packaging and Plastic and Abyssinia Ballooning).

In his remarks Ambassador Million expressed appreciation to NABC for organizing the webinar and provided at length current information on prevention and mitigation activities of the Ethiopian government to combat the pandemic.

He affirmed his belief that despite the setbacks caused by the pandemic the country and businesses in Ethiopia will remain resilient and bounce back in due time.

He further Ms. Laurenske van den Heuvel-Gerestein appreciated the Ethiopian government’s early response to curb the impact of COVID-19. She further appreciated the creative measures used by Ethiopian Airlines to focus on cargo and alternative routes as helpful for overall business.