Ethiopia is to host the 2013 African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum. Ethiopia is to host the event after senior 
government lobbied for the opportunity for the last four years.
Hosting the upcoming AGOA forum is an important opportunity for Ethiopia to create a platform to promote the country said Addis Alemayehu, ex-Chief of party of VEGA Ethiopia which assists Ethiopian exporters to the AGOA market under the auspices of USAID.
Ethiopia has invested more than any other African country in the AGOA sector as a result of which it has been selected to host the forum he said.
Ethiopia’s annual export to the AGOA market has reached more than 15 million US dollars according to some experts.It was to be remembered that Ethiopia was selected to host the “Origin Africa’ textile exhibition because of its conducive investment and trade policy according to Rajeev Arora, Director of the African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation.The exhibition took place in Addis Ababa from April 25-28.
Ethiopia should enhance the competitiveness of its textile and garments sector on the international market said Arora.
Enhancing the quality of products will enable the Ethiopian textile sector to establish itself on the global market he noted.
The exhibition will help the sector earn more benefits for the significant development of the textile and garment sector explained Arora.
AGOA is a U.S. Trade Act that significantly enhances U.S. market access for currently forty sub-Saharan African countries. The Act originally covered the eight-year period from October 2000 to September 2008, but amendments signed into law by the U.S.
Source: The Reporter
