Indicating its support to the plan introduced by Tsegaye Abebe, President of EHFGEA, at the first awards ceremony of exporters organized by the government, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said: “We share your target vision and will do whatever it takes to meet the target.”
The Prime Minister also indicated that his government has prepared 700 hectares of land for free in Bahir Dar, Amhara region, for those investors who want to be engaged in fruits and vegetable farming. In addition, he also indicated that the government is undertaking modernization activities on Bahir Dar Airport to equip it with cooling equipments for storing fruits and vegetables bound for export.
According to Tsegaye, after five years the sector will be able to hire 1.5 million employees and engage 50,000 small scale farmers who can produce and provide to exporters. By then, the association plans to cover 450 hectares with flower farms and 750 hectares for fruits and vegetables.
According to the Prime Minister, the government is ready to provide the incentives that it does for flower exporters to vegetable and fruits development. “We strongly believe that flower farm growth has to be accompanied and linked with fruits and vegetables farm development,” he said.
In the awards event planned to be undertaken every November 3rd with the objective of honoring exporters, support providers and the top ten importing countries, it was indicated that Ethiopia’s export earnings have increased from 436 USD in 2001 to 1.2 bln USD in 2006.
“The growth of our export earnings is no doubt the result of the concerted efforts of our farmers, the private sector, including the exporters and all actors involved in providing various services to those who were able to provide quality goods in the needed quantity,” said Girma Biru, Minister of Trade and Industry on the occasion. |
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