Jun 24 , 2023
Amidst Ethiopia's efforts to gain membership in World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Kingdom has pledged technical, regulatory and financial support of 450,000 pounds. Gebremeskel Chala, minister of Trade & Regional Integration and Nigel Huddleston, state minister for International Trade, inked the agreement last week at the British Embassy on Fikremariam Aba Techan St. Ethiopia has been eyeing the largest trade organization consisting of 164 member states, amounting to 98pc of the global trade economy. Gebremeskel said the accession has moved slowly over the past few years, but efforts to liberalize the trade market by the Ministry have been ongoing, with a host of policies and regulatory frameworks being formulated recently. "The country has been protected for a long time with not a lot to show for it," Gebremeskel told Fortune. "It's only through liberalization that we can move forward." Nigel remarked that Ethiopia's trade has been closed off for a long time, and it is going to take a while for the country to achieve liberalisation fully. Tangible policies that make an economy open to trade and investment with the rest of the world are needed for sustained economic growth, according to an IMF report.