EHPEA holds event to flourish its sector
The Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) hosts a sectoral promotion event to revamp the sector’s potential.
During the promotional conference held at the Inter Luxury Hotel on Thursday, April 28, the federal and regional investment officials turns to highlight the potential the country has in horticulture and other agricultural investments, whilst potential investors, ambassadors and other members of the diplomatic community sat in attended. At the conference representatives of the Ethiopian Investment Commission and Ministry of Agriculture explained the government’s readiness to tap the sector investment potential. They elaborated that the government is creating an additional conducive environment for investors to invest in Ethiopia.
Regional investment bureau officials gave an inside view of the potential that the country has for the sector investment and equally responded to the questions raised by participants.
Tewodros Zewdie, Executive Director of EHPEA, said that although it is a little over a decade since Ethiopia started an organized endeavor to have a modern horticulture export industry; the sub-sector has shown quite glittering and exponential growth in the last ten years.
He added that since 2004, the Ethiopian horticulture export has skyrocketed by about 25-fold to become one of the top three hard currency generators from export and second in agricultural export only to coffee. Tewodros added that the industry continues to be very dynamic, where growers are constantly improving sustainability through the adoption of environmentally friendly technologies and energy-efficient systems. “Ethiopia has both competitive and comparative advantages for the production and export of horticulture produce as the cost of doing business is cheaper in comparison with other countries,” he said in his opening remark at the conference by adding energy cost is among the cheapest in the world and suitable climatic condition in the country besides its proximity for global market and strong logistics scheme like the wide destination of Ethiopian Airlines.