Participants attend the opening of Shenzhen Outbound Alliance (SOA) Africa branch office in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Nov. 21, 2017.(Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's tech hub city Shenzhen has consolidated economic partnership with Ethiopia by opening its Shenzhen Outbound Alliance (SOA) Africa branch office in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday.
SOA is a non-governmental organization formed to help Shenzhen companies to engage in outbound investment and cooperation.
Speaking at the SOA office inaugural event, Sun Tianlu, vice chairman and secretary of the Alliance said with the city's total economic output expected to hit 2 trillion yuan (302 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, owing largely to high-tech products and services, it was natural that Shenzhen wanted to impart its successes to overseas destinations.
Shenzhen is home to internationally known high tech companies including Huawei, ZTE and Shenzhen Energy Group. The presence of a large number of high-tech companies headquartered in the city has given it the nickname "Silicon Valley" of China.
Berhane Keleta, Director General of Ethio-ICT industrial park said Ethiopia has already been a beneficiary of IT services from companies like Huawei and ZTE, and invites more Shenzhen based companies to create alliance with local investors to create ICT partnership.
Participants follow proceedings during the opening of Shenzhen Outbound Alliance (SOA) Africa branch office in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Nov. 21, 2017. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
The Ethiopian government is building an ICT park in Addis Ababa at a cost of 250 million US dollars aimed at boosting IT services with the aim to make the country a premier IT hub in Africa.
Sehul Tirusew, Investment Attraction Advisor at Ethiopia Investment Commission (EIC), said it's critical to have business partnerships with foreign partners and the EIC is committed to insuring that Chinese investments are successful and thriving in Ethiopia. "We will do all we can to make sure that we assist," said Tirusew.
Tirusew said Ethiopia has a demographic advantage for companies who want to hire a large labor force, adding Ethiopia has 54 million citizens considered to be an active workforce. Enditem