ADDIS ABABA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government on Friday launched a Chinese language web portal with an aim to promote Chinese investments with ease of service delivery.
The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), launching the Chinese-friendly web-portal here on Friday, stressed that the introduction of the new online platform would further enhance potential Chinese investors that have already established a vital presence in the East African country's investment landscape.
Abebe Abebayehu, EIC Commissioner, addressing the launching event in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, stressed the Ethiopian government's desire "to attract even more investment from China," which he described as Ethiopia's biggest economic partner currently.
"China is already a strategic partner to Ethiopia, the largest source of investment and financial assistance," the EIC Commissioner said, adding "Chinese language web portal will give prospective Chinese firms an easy way to access information on Ethiopian investment rules and regulations."
The Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia also stressed the newly launched Chinese language web portal's vital significance as a new platform to attract potential Chinese investors to Ethiopia.
"The Chinese language web-portal will make transparent investment-related information in Ethiopia to potential Chinese investors, and can improve efficiency as well as business environment in Ethiopia," the embassy said in a statement sent to Xinhua following the launching of the Chinese language web-portal.
The Chinese-friendly web-portal came as Ethiopia in recent years witnessed a growing number of investors from China, in which according to figures from the EIC, the East African country had licensed 1,294 Chinese investment projects during the previous 2017/18 Ethiopian Fiscal Year that ended July 7.
Mekonen Hailu, Communications Director at EIC, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the Chinese investment projects make up about 24.8 percent of the total investment licenses the EIC gave in 2017/18.
Ethiopia licensed a total of 5,217 investment projects during the fiscal year 2017/18 worth 3.7 billion U.S. dollars in total.
