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A 75-member commercial delegation led by Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Saleh, UAE’s Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs, will visit Ethiopia this week.
The visit will include official meetings with ministers and officials from the Ethiopian government, the launch of the second Ethio-UAE business forum, and the inauguration of the country’s pavilion at the Ethiopia international trade exhibition, scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa 21-23 March, 2019.
Al Saleh said that the visit aims to develop the economic, commercial and investment cooperation between Ethiopia and the UAE.
According to the Minister, the bilateral economic ties between the Ethiopia and UAE are strong and have witnessed considerable growth.
Al Saleh stressed that the UAE government has prioritized its overall commercial and investment cooperation with Ethiopia.
He added the country’s delegation will aim to create new opportunities for the UAE’s private sector to cooperate with its Ethiopian counterpart, explore new commercial opportunities in all sectors, present the UAE’s business environment, and facilitate the work of businessmen.
The trade volume between Ethiopia and UAE in 2017 amounted to over 618 million US dollars. Their level of trade is expected to grow significantly by the end of the year, according to WAM.

Boeing has grounded its entire global fleet of 737 Max aircraft after investigators uncovered new evidence at the scene of the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash.
The US plane-maker said it would suspend all 371 of the aircraft, according to BBC.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said fresh evidence as well as newly refined satellite data prompted the decision to temporarily ban the jets.
The FAA had previously held out while many countries banned the aircraft.
The crash on Sunday in Addis Ababa killed 157 people.
It was the second fatal Max 8 disaster in five months after one crashed over Indonesia in October, claiming 189 lives.
What has the FAA discovered?
The FAA has a team investigating the disaster at the Ethiopian Airlines crash site working with the National Transportation Safety Board.
Dan Elwell, acting administrator at the FAA, said on Wednesday: “It became clear to all parties that the track of the Ethiopian Airlines [flight] was very close and behaved very similarly to the Lion Air flight.”
He added that “the evidence we found on the ground made it even more likely the flight path was very close to Lion Air’s”.
President Donald Trump initially announced that the FAA would be making an emergency order following “new information and physical evidence that we’ve received from the site and from other locations and through a couple of other complaints”.
The US and Brazil became the latest countries to suspend the Boeing 737 Max from flying after nations including the UK, China, India and Australia all grounded the aircraft.
Up until Wednesday, the FAA position was that a review had showed “no systemic performance issues” and that there was no basis for grounding the aircraft.
Earlier in the day, Canada grounded the planes after its transport minister Marc Garneau said he had received new evidence about the crash.
He said that satellite data showed possible similarities between flight patterns of Boeing 737 Max planes operating in Canada and the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed.

Ethiopia and France yesterday signed three cooperation agreements to strengthen their relations.
The signing of the agreements comes following the visit of French President Emanuel Macron to Addis Ababa.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed and President Macron presided over the signing of cooperation agreements between the two countries.
Engineer Aisha Mohammed Minister of Defence signed the defense cooperation agreement which covers training, capacity building and a strategic level exchanges.
Similarly Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance signed the MoU on the promotion of French investments in Ethiopia, the joint declaration on the financial support to the economic transition and the joint declaration on the heritage cooperation.
The two countries also signed agreement on space cooperation initiated by the private sector on the sidelines of the state visit by the President Macron.
The French President also held talks with President Sahle-Work Zewde on further deepening the all-rounded bilateral relations between the two countries.
Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed and President Macron visited the Rock-Hewn churches of Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in Lalibela, Amhara regional state.
During Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed’s visit to Paris last October, France agreed to provide support to protect and preserve the Lalibela churches.
President Emmanuel Macron earlier today concluded his two-day state visit to Ethiopia.
Prime Minister Dr Aby Ahmed has seen off the French President at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.
The two countries have enjoyed strong diplomatic relations since 1897.

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed and President Emmanuel Macron of France today visited the Rock-Hewn churches of Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in Lalibela, Amhara regional state.
It is to be recalled that Prime Minister Dr Abiy secured a support pledge from the French Government in Oct 2018 that would go toward restoration of the churches.
President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Lalibela, Amhara regional state, for a two-day state visit to Ethiopia this afternoon. This is President Macron’s first state visit to Ethiopia.
President Macron will also meet with President Sahle-Work Zewde for talks on bilateral and regional issues of mutual benefit to the peoples of the two countries.
The two countries will sign different agreements, including on space and economic cooperation initiated by the private sector.
The two countries have enjoyed strong diplomatic relations since 1897.

Ethiopian Airlines is marking International Women’s Day by operating an all-women flight from Addis Ababa to Oslo.
The airline announced this in a tweet with a reference to the Beatles’ song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds: “The Lucys are about to control the skies for the 5th time, flying to Oslo on this March 8.”
The flight will be operated by female professionals in the sky as well as on the ground, the airline posted on Facebook.
This means airport operations, flight dispatch, load control, ramp operation; on-board logistics, safety and security, catering as well as air-traffic control are to be carried out entirely by women.
Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive Officer Tewolde GabreMariam explained that the initiative celebrates women on a continent where “gender inequality still persists”.

The national carrier said it hoped the flight will help ‘show the power of women to the world’
“We are immensely honoured that we have women trailblazers in every aspect of our aviation field,” he said.
“Women are an integral part of our success story from the start, and with this dedicated flight we honour and celebrate their indispensable contribution to our aviation group and the broader aviation industry, our country and the continent at large.”
This isn’t a first for Africa’s largest airline. It has previously operated all-women crew flights to Bangkok, Kigali, Lagos and Buenos Aires.

Ethiopian Airlines is keen to showcase women’s longer-term contribution to the industry and the progress they’ve made in conquering male-dominated professions, like those of pilot and aircraft technician.
Dr Saba Fikru, the head of the airline’s medical and health services, says that 35% of the company’s 16,000-strong workforce is female.
“These days, an increasing number of women are completing their pilot training successfully. Now we can hear a female voice coming from the flight deck or the cockpit,” she says.