Addis Ababa: The China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is a significant platform for Ethiopia to advance its tourism industry and foster new business connections, Ethiopian Ambassador to China, Tefera Derbew said.

The China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), is underway in Beijing.

It’s one of the biggest platforms of its kind that attracted eighty countries, regions and international organizations.

At this international fair, Ethiopia showcased its tourist destinations and export products, including coffee, among others.

‘We are able to promote our tourism industry. We have been able to network with potential Chinese partners. We have been able to conduct a forum which promotes our trade and tourism,’ ambassador said.

A significant number of Chinese potential partners attended the forum and provided valuable feedback, ambassador Tefera said, stating that their active participation clearly demonstrates the strong interest among Chinese businesses in partnering with Ethio
pia.

‘I think so far we have a strong partnership between the two countries, as you may know, Ethiopia and China have established an all-weather strategic partnership,’ ambassador Tefera told CGTN.

Trade in services is one of the key areas of our cooperation, supported by various framework agreements we have signed. Currently, we are trying to assess the cross-border e-commerce, he added.

‘So far we have authorized three Chinese companies to open an online Ethiopian pavilion, so we can trade in service, we can promote our products and we can also sell our products to Chinese customers.’

Moreover, the ambassador elaborated that while there is a general growing trend, coffee is experiencing particularly rapid growth due to increased demand from Chinese consumers. ‘We are very much satisfied with the current status of our trading with China.’

Currently, on top of coffee, we export sesame, mung beans, kidney beans and other agricultural products to China, he said, adding but we would like to export more agri
cultural commodities from Ethiopia, like cassava.

‘We have been working with the regulatory bodies so that we can access and allow exports of avocado to the Chinese market. I think on top of current increasing trend of Ethiopian commodities, now we are working on bringing more, and diversifying the type of products that we export to China,’ the ambassador added.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency