Fikremariam Tesfaye
1 July 2009
Addis Abeba — The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) said despite the government's continued efforts, the performance of the industrial sector remains low compared to the other sectors.
The export of the sector from such key areas like textiles and garment was unsatisfactory, but has shown promising prospects in the near future, it said.
The industrial sector's share in the GDP is around 12% and its growth has been between 10% and 11% per year over the period. This is by in large associated with the problem of competitiveness and market penetration, said Ahmed Tusa, State Minister of MoTI on Tuesday at the 4th Private Sector Development (PSD) conference held under the theme "The competitiveness of the Ethiopian Private Sector: New Challenges, Opportunities" at the Hilton here.
"Concerted efforts are still required both by the Government and the private sector to improve the situation," he added.
The competitiveness of the private sector in Ethiopia requires further improvement in order to effectively compete domestically and in the export market in a sustainable manner, he said.
According to the minister, the serious and important effects were the possible new challenges that the economy of the country in general and the private sector in particular were likely to encounter in the near future; "... and the preparedness required to overcome the problem." The minister added that new challenges were also expected to come as a result of the country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the current world economic crises which could affect the country to a certain degree.
"To be effectively competitive in such an environment in the wider global economy, which is facing serious crises and uncertainty, definitely requires bold and well thought response." Exports of agricultural products registered marked increase as a result of increased production and diversification. New export products like flower are growing extremely fast as a result of Government support to private investors in the area. The competitiveness of these private investors in floriculture is high and they are competing very well in the international markets, according to State Minister Ahmed.
The full day conference was hosted by Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations (AACCSA) with the financial and technical support of Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). A number of research publications distributed for the participants who came from the private sector.
Among the main challenges and constraints faced by the private sector includes: technological challenges, not supplying internationally competitive products and services, and also the current economic crises, as well as the volatile nature of the world petroleum prices.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Daily Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
