Ethiopia, South Korea Ink Memorandum of Understanding on Trade Promotion

Addis Ababa October 20, 2023 (ENA) Ethiopia and South Korea have signed a memorandum of understanding on trade promotion which will facilitate more trade exchange and establish joint businesses between the two countries.

Trade and Regional Integration Minister, Gebremeskel Challa and Moon Kyu Bang, Trade, Industry and Energy Minister of South Korea signed the agreement today in Addis Ababa.

During the signing ceremony, Minister Gebremeskel said Ethiopia and South Korea have deep-rooted partnership and will be further strengthened.

South Korea is a strategic economic partner of Ethiopia and it plays great role in achieving Ethiopia’s development plan, he added.

“Korea has provided invaluable assistance to Ethiopia’s development through investment, knowledge transfer, and aid projects. The two countries have built extensive people-to-people connections through cultural exchanges. Today, Korea serves as a model for Ethiopia as we work to transform our economy and society through education, technology and strong institutions,” Gebremeskel elaborated.

According to the Minister, there are vast rooms for more Korean investment in Ethiopia’s priority manufacturing sectors like textile, agro-processing, and leather.

The trade exchange between the two countries have shown significant growth in recent years reaching the value of 303 million USD in 2022 and the trade balance highly favors South Korea, he stated.

He added that the countries could work cooperatively to consistently increase trade exchange and minimize the gap of trade balance.

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister of South Korea, Moon Kyu Bang said on his part that Korea and Ethiopia share an alliance forged by blood.

Private companies are among the delegation in order to further foster the economic exchange, he added.

“Ethiopia is the gateway that connects 62 key cities in the African continent and the African Union is based in Ethiopia; and Ethiopia has young and dynamic work force and has abundance natural resources; so I believe that the economic growth potential of Ethiopia is huge,” Bang emphasized.

The agreement will further bolster the trade and investment exchange between the two countries, he noted. 

Recalling Ethiopia dispatching its battalion to safeguard the freedom and democracy of Korea during the Korea Peninsula war, Minister Bang emphasized “the people of Korea will always remember this dedication.”

Korea is working to support the war veterans of Ethiopia and their families, Minister Bang said, and underscored “I hope this will be a starting point to further advance the bilateral relationship between our two countries.”