India seeks Ethiopia's collaboration on digital payments, rupee-denominated trade

New Delhi [India], November 8 : The 6th Session of the India-Ethiopia Joint Trade Committee (JTC) was conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia earlier this week, co-chaired by the Economic Advisor, Department of Commerce Priya P Nair and the Lead Executive of the International and Regional Trade Integration, Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, Ethiopia, Tages Mulugeta.
As per a release issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, both sides agreed to expeditiously address all issues impeding bilateral trade and facilitate trade promotion between the two countries.
The Indian side invited the Ethiopian side to collaborate on the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) of India with Ethswitch of Ethiopia.
Further, the Indian side also urged Ethiopia to explore the possibility of settlement of trade transactions in local currency which will help boost bilateral trade and conserve foreign exchange.
"The deliberations of the 6th Sessions of India-Ethiopia JTC were cordial and forward-looking, reflecting the traditionally friendly and special relations between the two countries," the commerce ministry release said.
Both sides undertook a detailed review of recent developments in bilateral trade and investment ties and noted that the relationship has a huge potential to be scaled up even further. To this effect, both sides identified several areas of focus for enhancing both bilateral trade as well as mutually beneficial investments.
These include health and pharmaceuticals, automobiles, textiles, infrastructure projects, food and agro-processing and so on. Both sides also reviewed the progress of ongoing discussions for Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in the field of Standardization and Quality assurance and Customs procedure and agreed to conclude them expeditiously. The Indian side also requested the Ethiopian side to expedite the early finalization of the Bilateral Investment Treaty.
Ethiopia is one of the fastest-growing economies in the African region, with an estimated growth of 6.4 per cent in the year 2021-22. Bilateral trade between India and Ethiopia stood at USD 642.59 million in 2022-23.
India is the second largest exporter to Ethiopia. Indian companies are among the top three foreign investors in Ethiopia with existing Indian investment of USD 5 billion of which, about USD 3-4 billion is estimated to be on the ground.
Indian companies have invested in various sectors like agriculture and floriculture, engineering, plastics, manufacturing, cotton and textiles, water management, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.