Flights between Karachi, Addis Ababa to start soon

Envoy-designate says Pakistan hardly exports any product to Ethiopia

FAISALABAD:

A ban on the import of beans from Ethiopia has been lifted while flights between Karachi and Addis Ababa will start soon, said Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Ethiopia Shozab Abbas.

Speaking at a meeting at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), he said bilateral trade between Pakistan and Ethiopia was only around $50 million, out of which the share of exports from Ethiopia was $49 million. “Pakistan is hardly exporting any product to Ethiopia,” he added.

Abbas said the growth rate of Ethiopia remained at 10% over the past 10 years, however, coronavirus brought it down to 4%.

He said total exports of Ethiopia were $5 billion while its imports stood at $15 billion. Three major exporting countries to Ethiopia are China, Saudi Arabia and India. He elaborated that India had to give credit lines to make exports to Ethiopia.

Abbas said the Muslim population of Ethiopia dominated the business sector and he would try his best to link Ethiopian Muslim businessmen with Pakistani exporters in order to give a quantum jump to bilateral trade between the two countries.

He said Pakistan had the potential to export agricultural machinery and appliances with technology transfer to the African country. However, there was no scope for textile exports as about four Pakistani firms from Karachi had relocated to Ethiopia about 10 years ago and they were now fully catering to the domestic needs, he revealed.

He shared that Ethiopia had built a major dam with an estimated cost of $6 billion and the amount was generated from its own resources without any foreign funding. APP