The Addis Abeba Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral Associations (AACCSA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Los Angeles City Chamber on June 23, 2015.
The MoU was signed by Elias Genete, president of the AACCSA, and Carlos Valderrama, senior vice president for global initiatives at the Los Angeles area Chamber of Commerce at a ceremony held at Elilly Hotel, Addis Abeba.
Ensuring the exchange of information between the chambers on their countries’ business and investment opportunities is the first of three main commitments contained in the MoU. The second commitment is to organize outbound and inbound business missions to both countries, aimed at creating export market access and imports to the AACCSA members. The third commitment is establishment of a business council to create a business and investment forum.
Noting that there are almost no companies engaged in investment in Addis Abeba due to lack of business information, Carlos told Fortune, that following the MoU, the Los Angeles area Chamber will work by focusing on the energy, infrastructure and education sectors.
“The MoU is signed to explore business opportunities through the information to be exchanged between the two chambers to the respective members and to do more trade here,” he said.
In the last two years 70 delegations have come to engage in ‘business to business’ meetings with AACCSA from 27 countries of the Middle East and African Chambers, and have signed Memoranda of Understanding with AACCSA.
“We are conducting a study to assess the impact of the business missions that came to Ethiopia,” Getachew Regassa, Secretary General of the AACCSA told Fortune.
Most missions have come from the Middle East, with some from Europe, he added.
The MoU with the Los Angeles Chamber was the first with an American city. The delegation arrived on Ethiopian Airlines, which started a thrice weekly direct flight to that city on June 19, 2015.
[AddisFortune]