Addis Ababa August 18/2022/ENA/ Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration said it will focus on solving bottlenecks for the export sector in order to achieve the target set for this Ethiopian fiscal year.
The ministry plans to earn 5.4 billion USD from export in the year.
Export Trade Executive Director at the ministry, Gemechis Melaku told ENA that contraband and illegal trade are the major bottlenecks observed in the sector.
Both legal and illegal traders are believed to participate in the illegal activities.
“As a nation, contraband and illegal trading are the major bottleneck hampering the growth of export performance and both legal and illegal traders are participants in these activities,” the director said.
He pointed out that though the export performance of the country has been growing, illegal activities in the sector are negatively affecting the export performance of the country.
As a result, the ministry will focus on solving the bottlenecks and supporting legal exporters to achieve the target of the year.
However, he stated that the bottlenecks in the sector cannot be solved by the ministry alone. The effort would need the engagement and collaboration of stakeholders and regional bodies.
Gemechis underlined that illegal trading “needs strong intervention and nationwide collaboration ,including the support of regional governments by taking the issue seriously. In this regard, it is possible to achieve the target and upgrade the export performance of the fiscal year if pertinent stakeholders take their share in fighting illegal exporters.”
According to him, strict follow up and control mechanisms as well as legal enforcement measures on illegal traders around borders and gateways will create impact on export performance of the fiscal year.
The director recalled that the aggressive measures that had been taken by the ministry, in collaboration with the pertinent stakeholders like Ethiopian Customs Commission and Federal Police on contrabandists and illegal traders in border areas, brought significant contribution to the export performance of last Ethiopian fiscal year.