The Canadian Ambassador to Ethiopia, David Asher, has called for attention to the development of the private sector and the reframing of the ideologically dedicated and cumbersome bureaucracy of Ethiopia, if it is to continue along the path of sustainable development.
The call was made during the fourth Ethiopia-Canada bilateral consultation held on June 19, 2014 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). Those in attendance included senior state officials from the MoFA, Ministry of Finance & Economic Development (MoFED) and Ministry of Mines (MoM), as well as senior officials from the Canadian Embassy and the Canadian Foreign Affairs office.
The predicament that the bureaucracy poses has been admitted by Taye Atske Selassie, director general of the Americas at the MoFA. At the event, he pledged to rectify the shortcomings of the red tape bureaucracy which hampers progress.
Among the series of issues deliberated on by representatives of the two countries were the current program scope and priority sectors, development program implementation, the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), democracy and good governance.
The two countries are working closely to deepen their long standing interaction, which began close to 50 years ago. Extractive industries, agriculture and water development and electrical transmission are the key sectors of cooperation.
There are now 270 private local, joint venture and foreign companies that managed to obtain licenses. Two hundred and seven of them are engaged in exploration, while the rest are in extraction. Eleven companies from Canada investment have been given active licenses.
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