His Excellency Abdullah bin Sultan Al Oweis, Chairman, and H.E. Mrs Jerusalem Amdemariam Tadesse, Consul General of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in Dubai, discussed enhancing cooperation between the Chamber and the Consulate to enable the private sector on both sides to perform joint investment projects.

Al Oweis and Consul General HE Tadesse, who is visiting Sharjah Chamber on the occasion of her appointment as the new Consul General at the Ethiopian Consulate in Dubai, with the attendance of HE Khaled bin Butti Al Hajeri, Director General, discussed developing economic relations and trade exchange between Sharjah emirate and Ethiopia to achieve more growth and prosperity.

The discussion included the proposition to organize an exhibition for Ethiopian companies and establishments at Expo Centre Sharjah to introduce and promote Ethiopian products and services locally and to provide businessmen with the opportunity to learn about investment and commercial opportunities in Ethiopia, as Sharjah Chamber is always keen to provide all necessary facilities to support such events.

HE Al Oweis opened the meeting by welcoming the new Consul General and wishing her all the success in her mission to develop relations between the UAE and Ethiopia and pointed out that Sharjah Chamber’s work plan aims to grow local exports and puts Africa at the core of its interests and includes promotional tours to to the African continent in 2018, in Ethiopia and Tanzania. 

Al Oweis urged the Consul General to encourage Ethiopian businessmen to take advantage of the investment opportunities in Sharjah as an outstanding  regional economic hub as well thanks to the economic diversification policy in the emirate, its advanced logistic services, a pioneering banking system, and encouraging legislation and laws, and he reviewed the most important investment opportunities available in Sharjah and the efforts made by the Chamber to advocate the local business community’s interests and its keenness to support foreign investors by all means possible.

For her part, Consul General Tadesse praised the strong relations between the UAE and Ethiopia and the facilities available in the UAE and Sharjah in particular to Ethiopian citizens working in the country who share with all residents and UAE citizens the comprehensive development process witnessed here.

Consul General Tadesse praised all efforts made by Sharjah Chamber to support the trade exchange between the two countries and pointed out that her country has many components that underpin investment especially in tourism, agriculture, infrastructure and trade, as well as ample opportunities available for businessmen from Sharjah to invest in the coffee industry as the most important source of  income for Ethiopia, stressing that her country is working to overcome obstacles to expansion faced by foreign and UAE investments especially in its markets through the introduction of various incentives and facilities.

The UAE pays much attention to strengthening its trade and economic relations with Ethiopia thanks to its natural resources that offer promising opportunities to invest in a number of sectors on top of the UAE's development agenda, particularly in agriculture and food security as well as the transport and tourism sectors in parallel to the presence of a number of UAE companies in the Ethiopian market and the increase of direct flights between the two countries