ETHIOPIAN AMBASSADOR TO INDIA, TIZITA MULUGETA AT THE INDIA AFRICA TRADE COUNCIL

Ethiopian Ambassador to India, Tizita Mulugeta joined the inaugural ceremony of the India Africa Trade Council newly opened office in the city of Chennai, state of Tamil Nadu on January 21st, 2021.

Nagma Mallick, Additional Secretary of Africa in the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Dr. Asif Iqbal, President of the Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO), other top heads of the India Africa Trade Council and many business people from the state of Tamil Nadu were present at the inaugural event.

In her opening remarks, Her Excellency Ambassador Tizita stated that Ethiopia and India enjoyed historic linkages and the bilateral relationship has always been robust, warm and dynamic, cemented by steady contact and interaction.

She underlined the immense role India played in Ethiopia’s growth trajectory in terms of trade, investment, capacity building and sharing of expertise.

The government of Ethiopia strongly believes that the peace, stability and development at home is originally linked to peace and development in the Horn of Africa and the wider African continent.

She added, various infrastructural developments connecting the sub-region are being built to create an enabling environment for economic integration.

Ambassador Tizita also briefed the participants who attended the inaugural ceremony about the current status of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The ambassador pointed out that African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which covers a market of 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of 3 Trillion US dollars will provide the Indian companies and industries a larger, more unified market with less restrictive regulations.

Taking this into consideration, she requested the Indian business people to visit and explore the untapped investment and trade opportunities in Ethiopia and the greater African continent.

Dr. Asif Iqbal, President of the Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO) assured that the council will continue to work vigorously aiming at intensifying and deepening the engagement of Indian business people with Africa.

He added, the office of the council in Chennai will support the South Indian companies to collaborate with African companies and to explore the ample investment and trade opportunities in Ethiopia specifically and Africa as a whole.

The India Africa Trade Council announced that a 30-member business delegation from South India will undertake a visit to five countries of the COMESA region namely Ethiopia, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia in the coming April 2021.