Ethiopia: Strong Fiscal Year Performance Lays Foundation for Ethiopia's Trade, Export Growth - Ministry

Addis Ababa — llThe Ministry of Trade and Regional Cooperation announced that the achievements registered during the recently concluded fiscal year not only enabled it to meet and exceed most of its planned targets but also laid a strong foundation for sustained growth in Ethiopia's trade sector and export performance.

The ministry and its affiliated institutions have begun evaluating their performance for the 2018 Ethiopian fiscal year.

Opening the review meeting, Trade and Regional Cooperation Minister Kassahun Gofe said the ministry and its institutions delivered strong results across key priority areas, surpassing many of the targets set for the fiscal year.

According to the minister, several national priority projects achieved results beyond initial expectations, while institutional reform initiatives were successfully implemented to enhance efficiency and improve service delivery.

Kassahun said the ministry also made significant progress in creating a better working environment for employees and implementing capacity building programs designed to strengthen institutional performance.

Highlighting one of the ministry's major accomplishments, the minister said its core services have now been fully digitalized.

As a result, more than 3.4 million online services related to business licensing, business registration, amendments and license renewals were provided during the fiscal year, he said.

Kassahun further stated that substantial progress had been made in modernizing Ethiopia's trade system and promoting export growth.

The achievements recorded during the year have created favorable conditions for the country to achieve its export revenue target of 10.7 billion U.S. dollars in the current fiscal year, he noted.

The minister also highlighted progress in expanding the country's modern trade infrastructure, stating that the number of modern trading centers nationwide has surpassed 31.

He added that construction of 10 secondary livestock trading centers was launched during the fiscal year, with two facilities already completed and operational.

According to Kassahun, the new livestock trading centers are expected to strengthen Ethiopia's livestock marketing system and boost the country's export trade.

Read the original article on ENA.