Addis ababa: The Tirat Mender (Quality Village) has created a conducive environment for trade and investment by facilitating regional and international trade agreements, Trade and Regional Integration Minister Kassahun Gofe said. President Taye Atske Selassie opened the “Buy Ethiopian” national trade week expo at the Tirat Village today. He visited the exhibition and bazaar, which will run for six consecutive days.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, the Trade and Regional Integration Minister Kassahun Gofe emphasized that the strength of institutions is the foundation for Ethiopia’s growth and prosperity; and it is also a measure of success or failure. He stated that effective institutional reforms are underway to make Ethiopia’s trade landscape accessible, predictable, simple, modern, competitive, and fair, enabling the country to achieve its rightful benefits and to reach its full potential.
He highlighted that the Tirat Village, inaugurated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on November 23, 2024, serves as a unique center that houses quality infrastructure. The village is described as a significant development for global trade, facilitating elements from conformity assessment and standardization to accreditation and metrology.
The Minister reflected on Ethiopia’s pioneering successes in many sectors during the last fiscal year, which have laid the groundwork for continued progress. The country’s efforts in modernizing its business system and aligning it with contemporary global trade practices have yielded remarkable results.
Kassahun stated that to ensure trade convenience and efficiency, over 3 million services were provided online through digital technology for business registration and licensing. Streamlined and value-adding procedures have reduced a process that once required 11 criteria and 32 days to just three criteria and seven days, with efforts to further reduce this to a single criterion per day.
To address the high cost of living and commodity supply issues, the Ministry has increased the number of weekend market centers connecting producers and consumers to 1,567, ensuring the availability of basic consumer goods at affordable prices. Corrective measures on the trading system for essential commodities like fuel, cement, and salt have stabilized prices and supply.
The Minister noted that export has been at the forefront of significant changes following the homegrown macroeconomic reform. Ethiopia earned 8.3 billion USD from exports in the fiscal year, achieving 161 percent of the target, a notable increase from the 2.66 billion USD earned in the 2011 Ethiopian fiscal year.
Ethiopia is actively engaging in cooperation and negotiations that consider the global situation, ensuring benefits from bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade. The regulation for reducing customs duties for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement has been published, and the national implementation strategy has been approved, with the first shipment under this agreement set to begin in a few weeks.