Opening of JETRO overseas office in Addis Ababa

July 2016

On July 20, JETRO opened a new office in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, as its 74th overseas office in 55 countries. The opening ceremony was held at a hotel in the city with the attendance of Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tedros Adhanom and Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiro Suzuki, along with VIPs from the Ethiopian government and economic circles and representatives of Japanese companies, coming to a total of 150 participants.

In his opening remarks at the ceremony, JETRO Chairman and CEO Hiroyuki Ishige stressed that, through dissemination of information on the country, JETRO will promote investment into Ethiopia by as many Japanese companies as possible. He also brought attention to the two events being organized by JETRO, Japan Fair and the Japan-Africa Business Conference, as part of the TICAD VI summit to be held in Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya, in August.

In response, Prime Minister Hailemariam made clear his great expectations for the role of JETRO in drawing direct investment from Japan to Ethiopia and expanding exports from Ethiopia to Japan.

Following the opening ceremony, a memorandum was signed with the Ethiopian Investment Commission. JETRO hopes the memorandum will add impetus to promoting business exchange between the two countries in various aspects, including trade and support for development of Ethiopian infrastructure.