Berhane Mewa sells peace and stability to Romanians

Berhane Mewa sells peace and stability to Romanians
By Tamiru Geda
Bucharest, Romania


In its continuing effort to strengthen the fledgling bilateral economic ties between Ethiopia and Romania, the Romanian embassy in Addis Ababa has lately facilitated a flurry of dialogue between businesspeople of both nations. This week, in yet another effort to bring businesspeople in face-to-face meetings, a delegation of Ethiopian businessmen traveled to Bucharest, headed by Ato Berhane Mewa, president of the Ethiopian and Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce.
The delegation stayed in Romania for four days from the 23rd of November meeting with businesspeople from different sectors and concluded concession agreement with their Romanian counterparts. Speaking as head of the delegation on Wednesday the 26th of November at a private meeting with the president of the Romanian Agency for foreign investment, Ato Berhane conveyed that Ethiopia currently provided a lot of opportunities for foreign investors in the booming construction industry and in agriculture.
Berhane argued that Ethiopia’s strategic location on the Horn of Africa and the fact that Addis Ababa is the seat of the headquarters of the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa provides opportunity for Romanian investors to gain easy access to markets in other African countries. Addis Ababa, he said, is the second metropolitan city after New York City for accommodating the largest diplomatic community and advised the Romanian businesses to capitalize on that advantage.
He also called attention to the fact that “there is peace and stability in the country, the people are friendly and labor is cheap and abundantly available,” and the mild and enjoyable highland climate is an added bonus to any investor. He assured Romanian businessmen that they could engage in business while in Ethiopia either as individual investors or by forming joint ventures with local entrepreneurs.
Speaking of the potential of coffee export from Ethiopia to Romania, the Chamber president said that Ethiopian coffee is the best in quality as it is grown naturally without any fertilizers and pesticides.
The meeting was concluded with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and the Romanian Chamber of Commerce, which would serve as the cornerstone for future business relations between Ethiopia and Romania.
(Tamiru traveled to Romania accompanying the Ethiopian trade delegation.)