JEDDAH, 14 July 2004 — Ethiopia, over 60 percent of whose foreign direct investment comes from Saudi Arabia, is hoping to attract more Saudi investors. “The response from the Kingdom to our FDI proposals has been excellent,” Petros Olango, deputy speaker of the House of People’s Representatives of Ethiopia, told Arab News.
Olango, who returned home with his five-member parliamentary delegation yesterday after a four-day visit to the Kingdom, said the delegation’s meetings with the Shoura Council, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Islamic Development Bank, the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry and individual investors and businessmen was rewarding.
“We also had a meeting with the Saudi Industrial Fund for Development and hope to get more funds from them for our various proposed and ongoing projects,” Olango said. “Our meeting with SFD related to cooperation in the field of infrastructure development like roads, education facilities, telecom and electricity.”
The delegation, which toured Riyadh and Jeddah, was given a dinner reception by Ethiopian Consul General Tekleab Kebede at the consulate on Monday night.
Saudi investments are in agriculture, industry, mining, services, tourism and education project. A dental and pharmacology college started a year ago with Saudi investment, he said, adding that Saudis had investments in various fields including real estate and the hospitality industry. A seven-star hotel in Addis Ababa is one of many projects that has come up as a result of Saudi investment.
A Saudi-Ethiopia joint ministerial commission meeting held in Addis Ababa late last month was attended by a 19-member Saudi delegation led by Abdullah Al-Hamoudi, deputy minister of trade and industry. Ethiopian State Minister of Finance and Economic Development Mekonnen Manyazewal led the Ethiopian side.
The Ethiopian delegation visit was a follow-up of that joint ministerial commission meeting and emphasized Ethiopia’s appeal to the Kingdom to join hands in implementing various development programs in the African country.
The mission also met with Ministry of Health officials and called for cooperation in dealing with problems including HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. “We expect regular exchange of health professionals and experts between the two countries,” Olango said.
