While different views have been entertained for and against the intended outcome of the State of Emergency (SoE), Investment Commission said the SoE would boost the confidence of investors by giving extra protection to their investment.
Sehul Tiruesaw, Investment Advisor at the Commission told The Ethiopian Herald recently that investments are more protected under the SoE than without it at this time.
“To give people more confidence the Investment Commission and our consul offices located throughout the world have been always giving briefings to the investors,” he noted.
In addition, there is the Multilateral Guarantee, which ensures that investors are not going to lose their investment even if political instabilities occur in the country. It is a system that would reduce their risks, added Sehul.
Mithun Alwani, Commercial Manager at G. Doulatram and Sons Ltd., a company that supplies machinery for plastic producers, said the current situations are bit tough, especially in terms of foreign currency availability.
“However, the government is doing its best to encourage companies in terms of export. That is something that we are also doing to encourage our customers overseas,” he stressed.
On the other hand, Sehul indicated that the FDI inflow in the industrial sectors is increasing from time to time. In fact, the Bole Lemi, Hawassa, Mekele, and Kombolcha industrial parks have been fully occupied companies, most of them are foreign investors.
He also noted that, several sectors that have key components are identified in order to attract more FDI. As a result the next best thing in the sector would be the pharmaceutical sector.
Kilitnto Industrial Park, which would specialize in pharmaceutical sector and mainly manufacture generic drugs, is under construction. “This would substitute imported drugs. We have a big push in identifying countries that have the potential to invest in the sector. And the responses are so far so good,” noted Sehul.
He noted that local companies and the government have been putting lots of efforts to promote Ethiopia as a major investment destination.
The country has been getting a lot of coverage by different international media that these have given investors the impression that Ethiopia is a very good place for investment.