Kolkata– Offering a package of incentives including exemption of income tax and import duty, Ethiopia on Friday sought investment from West Bengal in sectors like infrastructure and small engineering.
“Ethiopia has joined the group of nations that are fast moving in economic development. My country is the fastest growing in the world and has registered a double-digit annual growth for the last 14 years. It has now become the largest economy in the sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa and Nigeria, and one of the largest recipients of FDI in Africa,” Minister Counsellor (Business), at the Ethiopian Embassy, Molalign Asfaw said at the inaugural session of MSME Conclave 2017 organised by CII here.
Describing Ethiopia as a country of “unlimited opportunitiesa, Asfaw offered a package of incentives, “including exemption of income tax, import duty, export tax incentives and a one-stop shop service at the Investment Commission”.
“I invite you all to explore these opportunities and invest in my country,” he said, laying stress on sectors like infrastructure, sm all engineering, Information Technology and healthcare.
“The country is entitled to duty-free and quota-free access to US market under African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a United States Trade Act, and preferential access to EU and many developed countries,” he said.
“Ethiopia offers inexpensive and trainable labour force and the low est power/ energy cost in the world. The country is potentially one of the largest domestic markets in Africa with 100 million consumers whose purchasing power is growing,” Asfaw said.
According to him, not only has Ethiopia adopted investor-friendly policies, it is also peaceful and secure, with the private sector playing a pivotal role in the nation’s economic activities. (IANS)
