Addis Ababa — Government will boost export trade by taking appropriate legal measures on actors engaging in contraband and illicit trade, Macroeconomic Advisor of the Prime Minister Ambassador Girma Biru said.

Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration held a half-day workshop today to discuss and evaluate the annual export trade performance of the country for the concluded Ethiopian fiscal year with pertinent stakeholders.

During the occasion, the ministry revealed that Ethiopia has secured more than 3.6 billion USD from export trade during the concluded budget year.

The revenue gained during the stated period was 69.79 percent of the target, the ministry said.

Addressing the workshop, Ambassador Girma said that contraband is one of the major challenges of the export trade alongside structural problems.

He further stressed that contraband trade has been one of the major challenges of export trade which needs prior attention to halt its negative impact on the revenue gained from sector.

Khat and livestock exports are the main sectors being affected by contraband trade during the stated period, Girma pointed out.

Praising the export trade of pulses, Girma said such encouraging trend and experiences need to be expanded to other sectors which have registered lower export performance.

Similarly, State Minister of Trade and Regional Integration Kassahun Gofe said that the export revenue for the concluded fiscal year was close to 70 percent of the target despite all the challenges.

He further elaborated that coffee, mines production, and Khat, were among the export items with below the expected performance due to various reasons.

The country plans to earn 5.1 billion USD from export trade in the current fiscal year by taking all pertinent measures to boost the sector, it was indicated.

Over 4.1 billion USD was secured from export trade during same period last year, according to the ministry.