The governments of Ethiopia and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that aimed to improve the manufacturing capability of small and medium-scale enterprises in Ethiopia.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Ethiopia's State Minister of Trade and Industry (MoTI), Teka Gebreyesus, and Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology of China, Wang Jiangping here in the East African country's capital Addis Ababa.
Asfaw Abebe, Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Authority under the MoTI, told reporters after the signing event that the cooperation agreement "will serve both countries to work together in developing small and medium scale enterprises."
According to Abebe, the MoU would mainly help Ethiopian and Chinese small and medium scale manufacturers to create a link in raw material exchange and provision.
"The MoU will also help to create market linkage between both parties as the Chinese SMEs desire to work with their Ethiopian counterparts," Abebe said.
Noting China's growing experience in the development of small and medium scale enterprises, the director-general also stressed that the East African country "has a lot to learn from China," in which the latest accord "will pave the way for Ethiopians to acquire best experiences from China."
The latest cooperation agreement among the two countries also came days after Ethiopia on Monday signed another MoU with the Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group, for the creation of Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP).
The MoU agreement is said to transform Ethiopia as a gateway for Africa to join globalization by e-commerce platforms, which will inspire the whole Africa to grasp opportunities of the digital economy. ■
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