Ethiopia Seeks to Maximise AGOA Benefits
Various activities have been launched in a bid to enable Ethiopia benefit the most out of the African Gross Opportunity Act (AGOA), Ministry of Trade and Industry said.
The country is not exhaustively utilizing the opportunity of AGOA though it is steadily increasing the volume of exports, information and public relations office head with the ministry Hailu Abebe told ENA yesterday.
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Hailu said lack of competitiveness in the international market both in quality and price of products, lack of skilled manpower, and raw-materials as well as absence of permanent and competitive exporters are some of the major problems that hinder efficient utilization of AGOA.
He said supply of cheaper products in American markets from East Asian countries has also become a challenge in utilizing AGOA especially for developing countries like Ethiopia.
Hence, he said, various activities including provision of capacity building programmes and coordination of local and foreign business enterprises have been in progress in a bid to boosting the competitiveness of local manufacturing industries with a view to exhaustively utilize AGOA.
Strengthened and sustainable financial assistance as well as market searching activities have been underway through a development bank for the same cause, he said.
According to the head, the Ministry of Trade and Industry in collaboration with the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce (ECC) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been preparing a catalogue of 6,400 locally manufactured products.
The Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce has established a department with a view to providing pertinent information to local businesspersons and entrepreneurs on AGOA, the head said.
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