Ethiopia, Netherlands Business Relations Will Grow in Post-COVID-19, Says Ambassador

Addis Ababa, May 29/2020(ENA) Ethiopia's Ambassador to Netherlands, Million Samuel expressed his hope to participants of a webinar held yesterday that the excellent business relations between Ethiopia and Netherlands will be further strengthened post-COVID-19. 

Speaking at the webinar entitled "Doing Business in Ethiopia" and organized by the Netherlands Africa Business Council, he provided at length current information on prevention and mitigation activities of the Ethiopian government to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also expressed his belief that despite the setbacks caused by the pandemic, the country and businesses in Ethiopia will remain resilient and bounce back in due time.

According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ambassador advised Dutch companies not to be limited to floriculture/horticulture and explore new areas of cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, energy, ICT and service sectors as well.

Policy Officer for Trade and Investment of Netherlands in Ethiopia, Laurenske van den

Heuvel-Gerestein on her part appreciated the Ethiopian government’s early response to curb the impact of COVID-19.

She further appreciated the creative measures used by Ethiopian Airlines to focus on cargo and alternative routes as helpful for overall business.

Executive Director of the European Union Business Forum, Nahom F. Abraham shared his positive outlook on the Ethiopian economy and opinions of EU member companies on the current Ethiopian business environment based on a survey.

The Dutch companies shared their experiences of doing business in Ethiopia and after a Q&A session, the webinar was concluded by extending an invitation to Dutch companies to do business in Ethiopia.

The Netherlands, with over 150 investments in Ethiopia, is the largest investor from European countries and accounted for the 5.23 percent of Ethiopia’s export, making it the 6th largest export destination of Ethiopian goods.

Ethiopia, as a major economic partner of the Netherlands, has become one of the fifteen countries included in the 'African Strategy of the Dutch Private Sector' developed to stimulate Dutch companies to do business with Africa.