This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
1መስከረም,2006 ዓ.ም.
Published by:- Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral Associations http//www.ethiopianchamber.com E-mail: [email protected]
There are lots of great reasons to become an entrepreneur. Perhaps you’ve hit on a particularly sublime reason:
You want your enterprise to make a difference in the world. As long as you’re piloting your own ship, you figure, you should make it count for some higher purpose – as well as the bottom line.
Fortunately for all of us, social entrepreneurship is alive and well. The ranks of entrepreneurial do-gooders are growing every day.
“It’s much easier to market if people feel like they’re bettering the world in some
small way by giving you business,” says Shel Horowitz, a marketing consultant in Hadley, Mass., and founder of an ethics-networking effort.
Here’s how you can go about creating a better life for everyone else as your company makes a better living for you:
Figure out what you mean. Have confidence that you can do it. Follow your values to unoccupied
niches. Build it on values, and people will
come. Prosper first, and then start to give
back. Don’t worry about generating hostility. Get a helping hand. Figure out what you mean“Values” run the gamut from right to
left politically, from spiritual to secular,
from practical to ethereal. And the ethical framework – or specific cause – that you adopt reflects your values.
If you’re going to incorporate your values and causes into your startup, first you’ve got to figure out how they will look in the guise of a company. And will these values drive your company, or simply flow from it?
Aliza Sherman Risdahl set up her media and marketing company, Moonbow Productions, to carry her concerns about environmental, women’s and Native American causes.
“We believe that people who share our interests in the world around us will be drawn to our goods and services,” says Risdahl.
The values orientation of Saelig, Alan Lowne’s company in Pittsford, N.Y., is overtly Christian. “Relying on Christian principles and ethics and committing our actions to God in prayer is most definitely the key to what we are today,” says Lowne, whose company imports foreign-sourced electronics components. He strives to lead with his faith in dealings with customers, suppliers and employees.
Have confidence that you can do itMost entrepreneurs simply assume that
it will be difficult to meld the profit-making purpose of their company with their call to social entrepreneurship. Usually, they’re selling themselves and their dreams short.
“If you’re starting a social cause and not thinking it could be a for-profit business, you’re making a big mistake,” says Alex Paul Pentland, a professor in the MIT Sloan School of Management and judge in its annual $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. “You’re selling yourself short. But you need to take into account the cash flow that you will need to make this company sustainable and make it scalable. Otherwise it will be a tin-cup enterprise.”
Follow your values to unoccupied niches
One good path to success as a social entrepreneur is to follow your values to market opportunities that you know, from personal experience, are unoccupied.
Bob MacLeod and Steve Byckiewicz were vegans who could easily find food to fit their philosophy – but not personal-care products. So they came up with their own stuff, starting with olive-oil soap; gave their company the intriguing name Kiss My Face; and watched consumers flock to the brand. Now, a quarter-century later, the Gardiner, N.Y., company creates more than 150 natural and organic bath, skin-care and home products and sells them in 19 countries.
Hoping for similar success, Kathy Gallagher deMeij recently established CountMyBlessings.com, a company that raises funds for hospitals from proceeds of sales of books, bedding and other unique baby goods on her site. “There are four million babies born each year, but we’re the first ones to tap into that to help hospitals,” says deMeij, a former publishing executive and consultant.
Build it on values, and people will come
Basically, you can do social entrepreneurship in two ways: Put your values first and make the business fit them, or get a successful company going and then layer on your do-goodism.
Brian Johnson has started Zaadz.com, a social-networking site based in Topanga, Calif., whose sole purpose is social change. “I’m going to serve and give you
something you’re willing to pay for, too,” says Johnson, who previously succeeded in business with Eteamz.com, the world’s largest amateur-sports website. “But it starts from, ‘How am I going to serve?’, rather than ‘How am I going to make money?’”
Prosper first, and then start to give backSome social entrepreneurs vouch
for the other approach: Make sure your company is successful first, and then you will be capable of giving back to society in the ways – and to the extent – that you want.
Heidi Vance began selling beaded jewelry out of second-floor space in downtown Forest Park, Ill., six years ago with Jayne Ertel, as Team Blonde Jewelry. They flourished. Then they began to wonder whether their retailing enterprise could help women in the Third World. So Vance and Ertel began importing necklaces made by Maasal tribeswomen of drought-stricken Kenya and Tanzania, and soaps and bath salts from a non-profit company that employs American women who formerly were homeless or on welfare.
“We thought if it was important to us, it might be important to others, too,” says Vance. “The response has been great!”
Don’t worry about generating hostilityThe more your company focuses on
your values, the more potential your business has to turn off as many customers as it turns on. But that doesn’t mean you should do anything different.
“Even some active opposition will be outweighed by the strong buzz from people who do support your agenda,” Horowitz says. “The comfortable middle never makes waves, but you have to work much harder to get results. Don’t worry about alienating people who aren’t your audience – work harder to attract those to are.”
Get a helping handMore financial incentives are cropping
up that encourage social entrepreneurship. Investing in social entrepreneurs is one of the primary missions of the Skoll Foundation, created by eBay co-founder Jeff Skoll. And expanding its annual entrepreneurship competition, MIT has just added a series of prizes worth $50,000 just for “developmental entrepreneurs,” who target emerging, Third World and low-income markets.
Our Bottom LineBy following the path of social
entrepreneurship, you can combine the excitement of starting a business with the satisfaction of making the world a better place. Plenty of startups have blazed the trail for you, but you and your company can find a unique path for doing good and well.
Doing Business by Doing Good: Social Entrepreneurship
“Even some active opposition will be outweighed by the strong buzz from people who do support your agenda,” Horowitz says. “The
comfortable middle never makes waves, but you have to work much harder to get results. Don’t worry about alienating people who aren’t your audience – work harder to attract those to are.”
7 September, 2013
From page 5
said that investors in Ethiopia benefit from the duty and quota free market access opportunities which Ethiopia enjoys in the EU, USA, Japan, India and other markets. The existing trade and investment relations do not seem to take these opportunities. This trend must be changed, she underlined. The President said that the role and contribution the business community could play in speeding up the change and development of the trade and investment relationship through such fora, economic cooperation,
and investment projects is indispensible. The President said: “Members of the
Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations and the Ethiopian business community in general like to assure you that they will be standing in realizing our common interest and benefits. To do this their
Chambers of Commerce and promotional organizations must work together.” She also invited the Polish business community to participate on the upcoming 6th Ethio-Chamber International Trade Fair which is scheduled to be held from November 27 to December 3, 2013 here in Addis.
Prior to the official opening of the forum and Business to Business (B to B), presentations were made on the existing trade and investment potentials of the nation by the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectora Associations and representatives of other government agencies.
Go to Africa...
Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). Hence, there is a strong and transparent investment protection and guarantee laws in Ethiopia.
He furthermore said that the country enjoys duty free markets access from various parts and countries of the world. The duty free market access under EU’s Everything But Arms (EBA) initiatives, the vast market access through AGOA, can be cited as major instances for this. Moreover, a broad range of manufactured goods from Ethiopia are bestowed with preferential access under the GSP to Canada, China, and other countries. In addition, India and, your country, Japan also entitled duty and quota free market access to most Ethiopian products.
Not only that the country is an active member of the COMESA that provides access to 19 countries having a population of over 420 million, Ethiopia is also in the process to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). These, I believe, would attract a number of Japanese investors to come and invest in Ethiopia.
Gashaw further underscored that the business communities of the two countries should work aggressively to enhance the trade and investment relations through exchanging business and trade information, organizing business to business forums and trade fairs, among others. He said: “Members of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations and the Ethiopian business community in general like to assure you that they will be standing in realizing their common interest and benefits.”
Head of the Delegation and representative of the Japanese Embassy in Ethiopia Mr. Kitaoka on his part said that in addition to traditional Official
Development Assistance, the economic relations such as trade, investment and other types of business exchanges between Japan and Ethiopia have developed since recent times. He further added that the Ethiopian government strongly wants foreign enterprises’ investment, especially in the form of FDI.
He said that Ethiopian economy has marked double-digit growth rate during the last ten years, which is a double of the average growth rate of African countries. He said: “I think the future of Ethiopian economy is bright.” The country is now approaching to around 90 million, which is already a huge market, and more, recently the middle class is gradually growing and the Ethiopian market will be even bigger in the near future, he further added. This Japanese mission is that of Base of Pyramid
mission (BoP), keen to make business in Ethiopia focusing on the middle class people. “In the light of what I have just said about the Ethiopian economy, the visit of this mission to Ethiopia is quite timely,’ he said.
Ethiopia and Japan have enjoyed long friendly relations dating back to the 1930s. Both are nations with an ancient history and civilization. Ethiopia was strongly attracted to the harmony that Japan achieved in conjoining modernity and traditional culture, including it in the Ethiopian School curriculum a book in Amharic entitled “ How Japan was Civilized.”
The Emperor’s official visits to Japan and the visit of the then Crown Prince of Japan to Ethiopia further contributed to strengthening relations between the two
countries. Another milestone was the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games where Africa’s first Olympic Gold Medalist, Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia, won the marathon for the second time. His achievement is still remembered by those who saw his victory.
Relations between the two countries have been regularly strengthened by various visits made by high government officials including the visit of the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Koizumi, to Ethiopia in 2006, and the late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to Japan on several occasions.
Japan has demonstrated a real and dependable friendship in the significant role it has taken in helping our efforts in the fight against poverty. It has collaborated in agriculture, water resources, health, education and infrastructure, and has provided a wide range of development support in the form of grants and technical cooperation, the construction of the Hidase (Renaissance) Bridge, built with Japanese cooperation over the Blue Nile in the Abay Gorge is a good case in point.
It is important to mention the establishment of the Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD), one of the first international fora to bring Africa and its partners together. This was originally started in 1993 at a time when African issues were hardly taken seriously in the global agenda and as a result African states were facing the risk of marginalization. Over the years, TICAD has done much to negate that, contributing positively in the areas of human-centered development in Africa, infrastructure, trade and investment, capacity building, debt cancellation, non-project grants and last but not least consolidation of peace, among others.
Japan Keen to ...
6September, 20136
Principles for Building an Ethical Organizationby Miriam Schulman
Drawing on Indian mythology, company folklore, personal experience, and a
sense of humor, R. Gopalakrishnan offered his observations on what it takes to develop and maintain an ethical organization to a group of Silicon Valley businesspeople convened by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics this June. Gopalakrishnan is executive director of Tata Sons, one of India’s largest private-sector business groups.
He began by retelling the story of the Arjuna, master archer from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, who is sent by Lord Krishna to rescue the women from a city under siege. Comparing Arjuna to “a turnaround CEO,” Gopalakrishnan related Arjuna’s success at freeing the women (“the assets of the company”) from the besieged city using his bow and arrows. “Everyone clapped,” Gopalakrishnan said, likening their reaction to that of shareholders believing they will now have a better year.
Yet, on the way back to Krishna, while passing through a forest, Arjuna’s chariot came under attack and his arrows were ineffective. The “moral of the story” for businesspeople, according to Gopalakrishnan, is: “You are only as good as your context shows you to be.” The same techniques that worked in one context may not in another. The
same CEO who was successful may not retain his or her “magic” over time or at a different company or industry setting.
With that caveat, Gopalakrishnan offered five general principles for executives who are interested in contributing to a company culture of integrity.
• Complete the cycle of whom you earn from and whom you return money to. Gopalakrishnan described how Tata has incorporated into its corporate memorandum of association the idea that the company exists to serve society. He confessed that when he first came to Tata in 1998, he was somewhat skeptical about the seriousness of this goal.
In his early days at the company, he traveled widely to visit various subsidiaries—“people selling trucks, writing code, generating electricity”—and talked with them about their work. “What was unique,” he said, “was that every PowerPoint presentation I saw ended with a chart labeled ‘Community.’” Each group gave this subject its own spin: in some cases fostering AIDS awareness, in some cases helping local women find markets for their woven baskets. These projects are funded out of 13 charitable trusts initiated in 1932 by Sir Dorab Tata, but are initiated and executed by local Tata management and employees. About a third of the company’s $3 billion in profits go into these trusts.
Gradually, Gopalakrishnan said, his cynicism began to dissolve. “What
has this meant to me personally? It’s part of why I go to work every day. In some surrogate way, one third of every dollar I earn for the company goes into these charitable trusts.”
• Work like a bricklayer. Gopalakrishnan recalled a story he learned when he worked at Unilever, suggesting that the person who clears and paves a road is the greatest servant of humanity. “Millions of people will travel that road following their dreams,” he said, “without ever thinking about the person who built it.” He proposed this model for managers, suggesting that they should concentrate on their work and not on appreciation or even outcomes in the near term.
Gopalakrishnan likened the story to a teaching of Krisha in the Bhagavad Gita: “To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive.”
• You don’t have to change the whole world, but you also don’t have to become corrupt if the world around you is corrupt. Tata, he pointed out, has 300,000 employees, and it would be impossible to control the ethical standards of every one of them. Yet, Gopalakrishnan argued, the company can encourage ethical behavior on the part of all of its employees.
As an example, he pointed to a 2002 scandal within the Tata companies, in which the chairman’s protégé and CEO of Tata Finance was involved in a fraud that threatened to cost clients, shareholders, and creditors more than $200 million. At
a meeting, an ordinary shareholder got up and told how he might lose his life savings. As Gopalakrishnan describes what happened, “At that point, we didn’t know the size of the scandal, but the chairman made a statement: ‘You have my assurance. Not one of you will lose a rupee.’ We could have filed for India’s version of Chapter 11; he could have said we’d stand behind the 22 percent of Tata Finance that we owned. But the chairman stood for 100 percent of the losses.” This kind of attitude has also helped Tata to resist some of the petty bribery demands that are endemic to doing business in India, he said.
• Ethics and standards have to be understandable for common people. By this, Gopalakrishnan said he meant not only that companies should avoid abstract philosophical or theological terminology in discussing ethics, but also that they should provide guidance and specific examples for employees on how codes could be applied. “For management to spend time creating a unique code of ethics is a waste of time,” he argued. Tata, GE, even Enron, he said, have similar documents. “It’s what you do with them that counts.”
At Tata, the code is published in 15 different languages. Every employee signs it every two years, which, for illiterate workers, may mean putting their thumbprint on the document. More important, the company runs almost 300 workshops a year where employees discuss the issues they face. “No great truths” come out of
this process, Gopalakrishnan said. “There’s no new enlightenment except in our own hearts” as employees talk about how to apply these principles to real-world situations.
• The child’s behavior is shaped by the first 10 years. So it is with a company. Gopalakrishnan talked about instilling ethics in an organization from the very beginning. To illustrate, he pointed to Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata Group, who created the JN Tata Endowment in 1892 to send promising Indian students, regardless of class, to pursue higher education in England. That philanthropic attitude was so ingrained in the company that the creation of other charitable foundations was simply an extension of that beginning.
For entrepreneurs who don’t think they have time to worry about ethics in the early years, Gopalakrishnan had this advice. “That’s negligent if you intend for your company to be around a long time. It’s like saying, ‘I don’t have time to shape my child’s character right now. I’ll do it when he’s 20.’”
As Gopalakrishnan has written elsewhere, “History …sheds some light on what I call the samskar, or values, of any given business. Much like individuals, business enterprises, too, have a samskar. It is the mark of a successful business that profits are earned competitively in the early days. It is a mark of a great business that, in addition, good samskar gets so deeply embedded that it becomes part of its DNA.”
5 September, 2013
By Eyob Tadelle A high level Japanese Business
Delegation - Base of Pyramid (BoP) mission, paid a working visit to Ethiopia with a view to explore the trade and investment opportunities out there and held Business to Business (B to B) meetings with its Ethiopian counterparts on October 7, 2013 at the Hilton hotel.
While welcoming the Delegation, Secretary General of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations Gashaw Debebe recalled that Japanese investors played a major role in the Ethiopian textile industry prior to 1974 after which their holdings were nationalized by the then military regime. This essentially brought an end to investment by the Japanese private sector, he said. However, Gashaw went on saying, since 1992 a much more conducive environment has been created by improving the legal and regulatory framework through liberalization of the economy, and there is much scope for private investment and for the Japanese private sector to become involved.
As a result, the Secretary General said, the total trade turnover of the two countries reached well over 3.6 billion USD in 2012. In this regard, Ethiopia’s exports to Japan registered over 511 million USD
in 2012 while imports reached well over 3.1 billion USD same year, though the balance of trade remains highly in favor of Japan. Given the trade and investment opportunities that exist between the two countries, much effort remains to be done in this regard, he underscored.
The Secretary General said Ethiopia is a country endowed with untapped and immense investment opportunities in the areas of agriculture, livestock, agro-processing, manufacturing, industry, construction, real-estate and tourism, among others. If used skillfully, this, I believe, would be to the interest and benefit of our two countries.
He said the country has registered a double digit growth for eight consecutive years which makes it one of the fastest growing economies in Africa and the world at large. This phenomenal success is the result of, among others, the presence of feasible economic policy that highly favors private investment.
Various trade and investment incentives such as duty and quota free rights for importing machineries, spare parts and inputs; exemption from internal taxes, tax holiday and much more benefits the country provides ensure trade and investment activities with huge returns. Ethiopia is also a member of Multilateral
Continued on page 7
Japan Keen to Beef up Investment, Trade Ties
[Result].?
Other effective questions Prachar suggested using to assess for ethics include:
• We are often confronted with the dilemma of having to choose between what is right and what is best for the company. Tell me about two examples where you faced this dilemma and how you handled it.
• There are two philosophies about regulations and policies. One is that they are followed to the letter; the other is that they are just guidelines. What is your opinion?
• How would you describe the ethics of your company? Which parts do you feel comfortable and uncomfortable about? Why?
• Give me an example of an ethical decision you had to make on the job and what factors you considered in reaching this decision.
For sales candidates, Prachar
recommended the following:• Sometimes our products are
very close to, but not exactly what our customers are asking for. Tell me about a time when you were trying to make a sale and were in this situation.
• Tell me about a time when you had to go against company procedure in order to get something done.
Launching into in-depth discussions with a jobseeker about his ethical constructs should only come after rapport has been established, Prachar emphasized, and requires frequent follow-up questions and comments from the interviewer. For example, use empathy statements to encourage people to talk. Empathy does not mean agreement, he said. ‘I might say, ‘?I would have been frustrated, too.’ I’m not saying, ‘I’d act the way you acted,’ but I’m demonstrating empathy, which is encouraging them to elaborate on their mindset and their actions.
Likewise, it’s also important to maintain a candidate’s self-esteem after
confessions with a statement such as, “We’ve all dropped the ball in the past.” “Remember,” Prachar said, “You’re not accusing. You’re not assessing guilt. You’re merely trying to objectively assess how this individual will fit in with your organization.”
Gather Multiple Data PointsFinding an accurate fit requires asking
for several examples. “You want to get multiple examples of behavior and follow up with probing questions to understand the thinking behind the behaviors,” he said. “Anyone can come up with one good example of how they did the right thing. When you ask for two or three, what you begin to see is their consistency. Is their idea of what’s good really good? I’ve seen great Answer 1’s, questionable Answer 2’s, and then really lousy Answer 3’s.?
Prachar also suggested having multiple people question the person in separate interviews. Then all the interviewers should gather to reach a consensus on hiring by objectively comparing the results
from their interviews, references, job simulations, resumes, etc. The extent of the interviews should be scaled to the level of the job-the more senior the position, the more in-depth the investigation.
In these conferences, Prachar noted, it is not enough to say, “I really think this person would fit in.” The interviewer needs to back up that hunch with examples of specific responses the applicant gave, actions he or she took, and results that indicate a good fit with the company. “The more data you have, the far richer the decision you’re going to make,” he said.
Although assessing for ethics with this approach may take more time, planning, and effort than a typical interview, the results will be well worth it, Prachar said: “You’re about to put someone on the payroll representing your organization. Their ethical lapses become your company’s ethical lapses. Doesn’t it behoove your organization to take a little more time, a little more effort to dig down a little deeper?”
4September, 20134
Secretary General meets Ethiopian Ambassador to Sweden
Assessing for Ethics
By Eyob TadelleSecretary General of the Ethiopian
Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations Gashaw Debebe discussed with Ambassador Woineshet Tadesse, Ethiopian Ambassador to Sweden, on ways of strengthening the trade and investment relations between Ethiopia and Sweden as well as other European countries.
The Secretary General explained the overall activities of the chamber, its organizational structure and other developments in creating a vibrant chamber system in the country. He said that the national chamber has been undertaking various activities to promote trade and investment promote foreign trade and import substitution by creating a strong private sector.
The ECCSA is relentlessly working on increasing membership, creating strong link with the government through the Public-Private Dialogue Forum (PPCF) and other stakeholders in a bid to creating a strong private sector in the nation. The ECCSA will be committed to promote foreign trade with the rest of the world. Gashaw said that the various Ethiopian embassies abroad should work to promote the investment and trade potentials of the country to the outside world to attract more foreign investors. They have also to work hard to promote foreign trade and rebrand the nation, the Secretary General said.
Ambassador Woineshet on her part
said the Ethiopian government is working hard to strengthen the trade and investment relations between Ethiopia and other countries through its embassies and other consular bureaus abroad, for economic diplomacy is the underlying principle of the nation. She further said that the trade and investment ties between the Ethiopia and Sweden as well as other European nations are not as such to the expectations and existing potentials. “It is high time to change the existing trend and work hard to establish a strong economic cooperation, trade and investment ties between Ethiopia and these countries,” she added. She said that the Chamber should play a catalytic role to facilitate and accelerate the trade and business relationships among these countries.
By Anne Federwisch
Hiring employees who mesh with the ethical climate of an
organization can be done efficiently and effectively by carefully honing the interviewing process, said Dan Prachar in a presentation to the Business and Organization Ethics Partnership.
Pracher, business development manager for Development Dimensions International, an international human resources firm, argued that an employee’s ethics are largely “hard-wired stuff.” The organization’s culture can have an effect on an individual employee’s ethics, he allowed, but it’s important to carefully select people who will represent the company honorably.
Ask the right questionsThe key to that selection is to ask
potential employees questions about ethics that elicit descriptions of specific instances in which the candidate made value-based judgments, Pracher advised. “If you ask people behavior-based questions to have them give you constructs about how they go about making decisions, you will learn a whole lot.” said Prachar. ? “The problem is, most companies simply don’t ask.”
Yet one of the best predictors of future behavior is past behavior, he said. “My thoughts can predict my actions, my behaviors. So if you can get me to explain my thinking patterns, my beliefs, the value set that I’m coming from, you’ll understand how I might behave.”
Although past unethical behavior can be a predictor, Prachar stressed that people can and often do learn from their mistakes. In fact, he often asks applicants, “We’ve all done things that we have later regretted. Give me an example that falls into this category for you. How would have handled it differently?”
The technique he advocated to elicit behavior-based responses uses the STAR format, which requires respondents to answer questions by
• describing specific Situations or Tasks
• elaborating on their Actions in that situation and
• explaining what the Results were
For example, to find out if applicants
are customer-focused, a prospective employer might ask them to tell about a time a customer made an unreasonable request and what they did about it. “Don’t settle for a general answer like, ‘I’d do whatever it takes,’” Prachar advised.? “Push for a specific example that illustrates that point.”
For instance, a good response might be, “I had a customer who had something break down and they said they needed the part immediately or business would suffer. But I didn’t have the part [Situation or Task]. However, I knew that another customer across town had a spare part, so I got permission to borrow it, drove over there, and delivered it to the first customer [Action]. We kept a valued customer and minimized disruption to their business
3 September, 2013
Continued on page 7
By Eyob Tadelle
Ethiopia’s relation with the Republic of Poland goes far back in history. It is associated with the long history of Ethiopia and Europe. During the 17th century at a time when wars were being conducted in southeastern Europe against the Ottoman Empire, the first attempt of contact was made by the King of Poland Jan III Sobieski by sending a mission to Emperor Iyasu I of Ethiopia with an offer of forming an anti-Turkish coalition around 1686.
The two countries signed the first Treaty of Friendship on trade and bilateral relations - promising everlasting peace and the possibility of accreditation of consular and diplomatic representatives - in 1934, and on September 1964, the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I held an official visit to Poland. Indeed, the two countries share many centuries of tradition of an independent state, a permanent need to fight to maintain independence and an exceptional fondness for freedom. Poland and Ethiopia are two countries that are proud of their history and achievements. As such, they have been sailing analogues politico-economic ideological boats – monarchical, socialist, and now, free market economy in this new world order. Thus, Ethio-Polish close relations are based not only on the Polish presence in Ethiopia but also on a complex geopolitical and cultural context which provides a basis for further economic and trade relations.
Today, Ethiopia’s relations with the Republic of Poland are far more solid than ever before. Recently a high level polish business delegation led by Beata Stelmach, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, paid an official visit to Ethiopia and the first Ethio-Poland Business Forum was held on
September 23, 2013 here in Addis at the Sheraton Hotel.
Opening the Forum, State Minister of the FDRE Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Berhane Gebre-kirstos said that the Ethiopian government has long recognized the irreplaceable role foreign investors would play in the national economy of a given nation. To this end, the State Minister said, the government has not only been exerting utmost efforts to attract foreign investors but also doing various activities to create conducive business atmosphere for foreign investors. In the same vein, he went on saying, the Ethiopian government is keen to further bolster the involvement of Polish investors in the country.
He said that Ethio-Polish overall bilateral relationships should be further strengthened for mutual benefit. “The government will be happy to see more Polish investors here,” he said. Ethiopia is undertaking various mega development activities which entail the involvement of Polish companies more than ever, the State Minister said.
Head of the Delegation and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Beata Stelmach on her part said that the Polish government is keen to further strengthen the
bilateral relations between the two countries. She further said that Poland has recognized the importance of developing ties with the ever growing economies of Africa. And as such, the Polish government has designed the ‘Go to Africa’ Initiative to further augment the overall multilateral relationship of the Poland republic with that of Africa. The Deputy Foreign Minister said that Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa and the Polish government has understood the overall development efforts
which make Ethiopia one the priority partners of Polish, to work on various development areas together. The Business Forum, she said, marks a mile stone in the Ethio-Polish relations for it would become a launching pad for the furtherance of their ties, she added.
President of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations Mulu Solomon on her part said that though the economic linkages between the two countries has been improved in recent years, mainly due to the encouraging
achievements of economic reforms in Ethiopia and the enhanced bilateral relations between them, the trade and investment relations between the two countries is still lagging behind compared to the unexploited opportunities existing in them.
For instance, she went on saying, the annual trade turnover between the two countries is only 14 million USD in 2012, signifying the fact that much work is still needed to further enhance their trade and investment ties through the unrelenting efforts of the governments and business
communities of the two countries. She said that Ethiopia is endowed with untapped and immense investment opportunities in the areas of agriculture, livestock, agro-processing, manufacturing, industry, construction, real-estate and tourism, among others, which of course would be of interest to Polish investors and if used skillfully, this would be to the interest and benefit of the two countries.
Ethiopia also provides generous incentives to investors, she underscored. Mulu further
Go to Africa! • First Ethio-Poland Business Forum held in Addis
2September, 20132
Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral AssociationsMonthly Newspaper
Synchronizing Efforts to Promote Foreign Trade, InvestmentNeedless to say, Ethiopia is a country endowed with vast
potential resources for trade and investment, be it local or foreign investments.
It is an established fact that foreign trade and investment play an irreplaceable role in the national economy of a given nation. Reconsidering this, the government through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been exerting utmost efforts to attract foreign investors. It is also doing various activities to create conducive business atmosphere for foreign investors. To this end, auspicious results have been registered in the last few years; particularly the number of foreign investors from China, Turkey, India and other emerging countries is growing by leaps and bounds year in, year out.
Be this as it may, however, the involvement of investors from European countries and the U.S.A. is much below the expectations, given the existing potentials. This, to large extent, signifies much effort is needed to promote the country’s investment and trade potentials on those countries.
Ethiopia is indeed becoming a destination area for investors for it has untapped potentials. Coupled with this, the country enjoys duty free markets access from various parts and countries of the world. The duty free market access under EU’s Everything But Arms (EBA) initiatives, the vast market access through AGOA, can be cited as major instances for this. Moreover, a broad range of manufactured goods from Ethiopia are bestowed with preferential access under the GSP to Canada, Japan, and other countries. In addition, India and China also entitle duty and quota free market access to most Ethiopian products. Not only that the country is an active member of the COMESA that provides access to 19 countries having a population of over 420 million, Ethiopia is also in the process to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).
These and other factors make the nation a prime candidate to become an investment destination hub. But these all potentials, it seems, have not yet promoted to the desirable level. By promoting the potentials, it is possible to attract much more foreign investors to the nation within a relatively shorter period of time. However, this entails the concerted efforts of various organs – the government, representative groupings of the private sector and other development partners.
Competition law
ompetition law is law that promotes or maintains market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies.
The history of competition law reaches back to the Roman Empire. The business practices of market traders, guilds and governments have always been subject to scrutiny, and sometimes severe sanctions. Since the 20th century, competition law has become global. The two largest and most influential systems of competition regulation are United States antitrust law and European Union competition law. National and regional competition authorities across the world have formed international support and enforcement networks.
Modern competition law has historically evolved on a country level to promote and maintain competition in markets principally within the territorial boundaries of nation-states. National competition law usually does not cover activity beyond territorial borders unless it has significant effects at nation-state level. Countries may allow for extraterritorial jurisdiction in competition cases based on so-called effects doctrine. The protection of international competition is governed by international competition agreements. In 1945, during the negotiations preceding the adoption of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947, limited international competition obligations were proposed within the Charter for an International Trade Organization. These obligations were not included in GATT, but in 1994, with the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of GATT Multilateral Negotiations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was created. The
Agreement Establishing the WTO included a range of limited provisions on various cross-border competition issues on a sector specific basis.
Competition law, or antitrust law, has three main elements:
• Prohibiting agreements or practices that restrict free trading and competition between businesses. This includes in particular the repression of free trade caused by cartels.
• Banning abusive behavior by a firm dominating a market, or anti-competitive practices that tend to lead to such a dominant position. Practices controlled in this way may include predatory pricing, tying, price gouging, refusal to deal, and many others.
• Supervising the mergers and acquisitions of large corporations, including some joint ventures. Transactions that are considered to threaten the competitive process can be prohibited altogether, or approved subject to “remedies” such as an obligation to divest part of the merged business or to offer licenses or access to facilities to enable other businesses to continue competing.
Substance and practice of competition law varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Protecting the interests of consumers (consumer welfare) and ensuring that entrepreneurs have an opportunity to compete in the market economy are often treated as important objectives. Competition law is closely connected with law on deregulation of access to markets, state aids and subsidies, the privatization of state owned assets and the establishment of independent sector regulators, among other market-oriented supply-side policies. In recent decades, competition law has been viewed as a way to provide better public services.
Visit the WTO and ECCSA Resource Center at the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations headquarter, 7th floor.
Also visit the new website of ECCSA:
www.ethiopianchamber.com
1 September, 2013
Published by:- Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral Associations http//www.ethiopianchamber.com E-mail: [email protected]
September, 2013 Vol.5 No.1
IN THIS ISSUE
8
5
Japan Keen to Beef up
Investment, Trade Ties
A high level Japanese Business Delegation - Base of Pyramid (BoP) mission, paid a working visit to Ethiopia with a view to explore the trade and investment opportunities out there and held Business to Business (B to B) meetings with its Ethiopian counterparts on October 7, 2013 at the Hilton hotel.
There are lots of great reasons to become an entrepreneur. Perhaps you’ve hit on a particularly sublime reason: You want your enterprise to make a difference in the world. As long as you’re piloting your own ship, you figure, you should make it count for some higher purpose – as well as the bottom line.
Go to Africa!
By Eyob Tadelle
Ethiopia’s relation with the Republic of Poland goes far back in history. During the 17th century at a time when wars were being conducted in southeastern Europe against the Ottoman Empire,
the first attempt of contact was made by the King of Poland Jan III Sobieski by sending a mission to Emperor Iyasu I of Ethiopia with an offer of forming an anti-Turkish coalition around 1686. The two countries signed the first Treaty of Friendship on trade and bilateral
relations - promising everlasting peace and the possibility of accreditation of consular and diplomatic representatives - in 1934, and on September 1964, the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I held an official visit to Poland. Indeed, the two countries share many centuries of tradition of an independent state, a permanent need to fight to maintain independence and an exceptional fondness for freedom. Poland and Ethiopia are two countries that are proud of their history and achievements. As such, according to Mulu Solomon, President of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, “they have been sailing analogues politico-economic ideological boats – monarchical, socialist, and now, free market economy, in this new world order.’ Thus, Ethio-Polish close
relations are based not only on the Polish presence in Ethiopia but also on a complex geopolitical and cultural context which provides a basis for further economic and trade relations. Today, Ethiopia’s relations with the Republic of Poland are far more solid than ever before. Recently, a high level polish business delegation led by Beata Stelmach, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, paid an official visit to Ethiopia and the first Ethio-Poland Business Forum was held on September 23, 2013 in the presence of high government officials and representatives of the Ethiopian business community at the Sheraton Hotel.