On July 29, 2021, the Ethiopia Trade and Investment Symposium co-organized by the Consulate General of Ethiopia in Shanghai, Hangzhou Council for the Promotion of Trade, and the Zhejiang Africa Service Center was successfully held at the Zhejiang Africa Service Center in Qiantang District of Hangzhou. Mr. Lan Wei, Consul General of Ethiopia in Shanghai, was present to introduce the investment environment and key development industries of Ethiopia to the participating enterprises and to have face-to-face exchanges with the entrepreneurs. More than 50 representatives of enterprises attended the event.

In recent years, the speed of urbanization in Africa is the fastest in the world. Rapid urbanization has made Africa the fastest-growing middle-class region in the world. On January 1st, 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area was launched, which marks an important milestone in Africa’s regional integration and economic transformation. As a historical and natural extension of the "Belt and Road" co-operation, Africa is a very important participant. Both China and Ethiopia are countries with a long history, both have profound cultural heritages and long-term friendly development relations. Through this Ethiopia Trade and Investment Symposium, will enable more Zhejiang enterprises and the public to understand and respect each other, achieve mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, and have common development.

At the beginning of the event, Consul General of Ethiopia in Shanghai Wei Lan, president of Hangzhou Council for the Promotion of Trade Zheng Rongxin, and director of Zhejiang Africa Service Center Xie Qi delivered speeches respectively.

It is worth congratulating that during the event, the Hangzhou Council for the Promotion of Trade officially signed a contract with the Consulate General of Ethiopia in Shanghai. In the future, they will strengthen all-round exchanges and cooperation, and work with Zhejiang Africa Service Center to serve "Going Global" enterprises, promoting China-Africa trade and investment and serving the overall situation of China’s "Belt and Road" cooperation initiative.

As the event progressed, Consul General Wei Lan brought attendees the "Introduction to Ethiopia’s investment environment", hoping to let more enterprises know about Ethiopia, enter into Ethiopia, invest in the business, and seek common development.

After sharing, entrepreneurs communicated freely and exchanged with Mr. Wei Lan face to face. The atmosphere was warm, and everyone was full of harvest.

Zhejiang-Africa Service Center aims to build a one-stop service platform between China and Africa, adhering to the service concept of "down-to-earth service for industry, precision power to reduce costs and increase efficiency". The event was launched to help enterprises understand Africa, familiarize themselves with the investment environment, better explore the African blue sea market, receiving unanimous praise from the representatives of the participating enterprises.

In the follow-up service activities, Zhejiang-Africa Service Center will, as always, starting from the actual needs of enterprises, solve practical problems for enterprises, and practice service concepts, so that Zhejiang-Africa no longer exists difficult business! Together, we can explore vast new opportunities and learn more about Africa. Let us step into Africa, make great achievements on this amazing continent, and jointly build a closer community with a shared future.

(Author: Cai Yuelai)