One Africa Expo is pivotal platform to showcase Africa’s potential and deliberate on how to improve trade and investment relations between African countries and beyond, State Minister of Trade and Regional Integration, Kassahun Gofe said.
The State Minister made the remark today at the official opening ceremony of the One Africa Expo 2023 in Addis Ababa under the theme “Enabling Development.”
The expo will be held from May 22-27, 2023 with the objective to improve trade and investment relations between African countries so as to help realize economic growth and development and transformation of the continent.
The expo is expected to serve as a commercial gateway to the African continent and a hub for global connectivity.
During the occasion, State Minister of Trade and Regional Integration, Kassahun Gofe said the event of this kind will bring Africans across all walks of life together to reflect and draw lessons from the past experiences and plan for the future to drive forward the goals and priorities set by African Union’s Agenda 2063.
“The expo will be an excellent platform to showcase Africa’s potential and deliberate on how to improve trade and investment relations between African countries and beyond,” he underscored.
The state minister recalled that Ethiopia embarked on profound economic reform measures aimed at enhancing the role of the private sector, attracting greater Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and digitalizing the economy over the last five years.
These reform measures have already had a significant impact on improving the business and investment climate in Ethiopia, according to him.
As we are celebrate this auspicious event, he reiterated Ethiopia’s commitment to the African Agenda by presenting a unique opportunity to promote trade and investment between Africa and the world.
“We believe that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) can serve as a new impetus to our reform effort in creating a more open and integrated economy,” Kassahun added.
To this end, he said Ethiopia has ratified the agreement establishing the AfCFTA and remains committed to take the next step to the full operationalization of the trade agreement.
Ethiopia in collaboration with the continental body assures its commitment to promote the African cause and to strive towards peace and prosperity in our continent, he underscored.
CEO of One African Expo, Yalew Getachew said One Africa Expo presents a unique opportunity to promote bilateral trade between Africa and the rest of the world.
The expo is set to be an unprecedented Business-to-Business (B2B) trade show, created specifically for African governments, private and public business sectors, global companies, and business professionals to showcase their products, services, expertise, he added.
Moreover, he elaborated that by providing a gateway to the global market, the One Africa Expo 2023 presents a unique opportunity to promote bilateral trade between Africa and the world.
Director Division for Economic Cooperation and Regional Integration at IGAD, Osman Mohammed Babikir said the economic and regional integration is one of the key strategy of IGAD.
To this end, this expo will contribute a lot to stimulate the effort of economic and regional integration in the continent, he added.
Moreover, he noted that this expo is bringing many actors together and exchanging views on ways of working together for economic cooperation and continental integration.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency