Ethiopia and Egypt signed here Tuesday cooperation agreements and a memorandum of understanding in various sectors at the conclusion of the third Ethio-Egyptian joint ministerial meeting. The meeting came to a close by issuing a 15-point communiqué.

The two governments reaffirmed that they would work closely to further enhance existing relations. Speaking on the occasion, Foreign Affairs Minister Seyoum Mesfin said the two countries signed cooperation agreements in areas of agriculture, trade, health, transit live animals and beef meat, economic development, information science, technology, education, air service, media and communications, among others. He said the economic relations between the two countries had gained momentum and the joint commission encourages efforts of the two countries. Seyoum said the volume of trade exchange between the two countries had been growing by 20 percent. He said the ever-increasing trade partnership projects with Egyptian investors was significantly boosting economic relations between the two sisterly nations. The two countries would remain the leading partners in the region and in the whole of Africa to ensure peace and stability as well as economic cooperation, he said.

Ethiopian demonstrates its new aircraft

The Ethiopian Airlines demonstrated its new Bombardier Q400 Next Generation aircraft on Tuesday. Reporters and tour operators attended the demonstration flight that lasted for 40 minutes. Ethiopian said three of the Bombardier Q400 Next Generation aircraft out of the eight it ordered from the Canadian plane maker Bombardier Inc would arrive in next month. It was noted that the remaining aircrafts would arrive by October this year. Domestic Operations Director of Ethiopian Abebe Angessa said Bombardier Q400 would enable Ethiopian to deliver effective service to domestic flight customers. Bombardier Q400 aircraft, which has a capacity to carry 78 passengers, was fast, fuel effective and reliable aircraft. Abebe said Bombardier Q400 aircraft would replace Fokker aircraft to expand its services to neighboring countries. Ethiopian flight manager Beza Assefa said Bombardier Q400 aircraft were serving around the world with relatively less maintenance cost. She said Ethiopia is the second nation in Africa to use these aircraft which would also serve Ethiopian regional routes. It was noted that Ethiopian had signed a purchase agreement with the Canadian company to buy eight Bombardier Q400 aircrafts at a cost of 242 million USD. Ethiopian is currently providing domestic flight service with Boeing 737 and Fokker aircraft which had been serving for the last 15 years its 17 domestics destinations. The aircraft would enable Ethiopian to meet the ever increasing demand for domestic flights to enhance the tourism sector.

Investors to establish a forum

Entrepreneurs engaged in various investment sectors in Addis Ababa have agreed to establish an investment forum to expedite the economic growth of the city and to address problems related to investment activities.  Speaking at a consultative workshop organized here yesterday, the investors said the forum would help to tackle problems associated with land lease, electric power, road and loan services, among others.   Addis Ababa City Land Administration and Construction Permit Authority Deputy Manager Atsede Abay said the administration had put in place a system to kebele level to solve problems related to land lease and construction. Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) president Bekalu Zeleke said the bank was ready to solve problems of investors and give them all the services they required.   Addis Ababa City General Manager Mekuria Haile said investors licensed with over 256 billion birr capital during the past 18 years were engaged in various development activities in the city.     Mekuria finally said a lot needed to be done to boost the city’s income from the investment sector.

Commission issues licenses to investors with 2.4 billion birr

The Oromia Investment Commission (OIC) said it had issued licenses to investors with over 2.4 billion birr combined capital in the third quarter of this budget year. Commission Public Relations Head Mekonnen Fufa told WIC that the licenses were issued to 16 foreign and 85 local investors. He said the investors were licensed to engage in agriculture, industry and service sectors.   The investors are to commence construction on 9,900 hectares of land they received from the state, he noted.