More than 75 domestic and foreign companies made their way to the trade fair organised by the Addis Abeba Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral Associations (ACCSA), three years after it had its flagship annual event held last. Teshale Belihu, state minister for Trade & Regional Integration, opened the trade fair on February 23, 2023, alongside Mesenbet Shenkute, the Chamber's president. The five-day fair at the Addis Abeba Exhibition Centre, near Mesqel Square, is themed, "Enhanced Export for Sustainable Development." The 25th edition of the trade fair is relaunched after a series of events such as the pandemic and the civil war in the north brought a long hiatus. Teshale said the government recognizes that the private sector should be in the driver's seat to the economic locomotion, with the major source of our foreign currency being the export sector. The Chamber has scheduled three specialized international trade fairs to be conducted until the end of this year. Participating in the trade fair for the second time, Desalegn Werku, export manager of Beketysay Import & Export said the event has a piece of good news for manufacturing companies as local engineering companies exhibit their products. He suggests the chamber organise the trade fair at a time that does not overlap with an international trade fair in Dubai to retain foreign exhibitors and visitors.

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