Ethiopia offers the right place for attractive investment and business opportunities for Italian companies, adding that it provided a new frontier for construction contractors, according to two Italian companies representatives: Fabio Santoni, Managing Director of Nove Consulting Company at the 11th Ethio-Con Exhibition, and Federico Tonelli, Sales Manager of Italian Plumbing Products.
Mr. Santoni said Ethiopia was fast becoming an emerging hub of unprecedented investment opportunities, and it was determined to offer opportunities for foreign investors. Mr. Santoni underlined that “the country is putting development at the center of the objectives of the government and also the people.” He mentioned that his company would remain involved in promoting business opportunities in the construction, tour operations, food processing, and agro processing sectors, adding that this would add additional impetus for Italian companies to display their products in various exhibitions in the country. In comparison with other African countries, he said Ethiopia was a pacemaker in becoming an attractive investment destination, and added that “Ethiopia is the country where you can take your benefit after one year if you work strongly.”
Mr. Tonelli from Italian Plumbing Products also noted that the investment and business landscape was one of the prime driving forces for his company to open a regional office in Addis Ababa with the view to reaching out to the whole East African region.
Mr. Tonelli said he was coming to Ethiopia “not only to sell but also to establish business relations with local constructors, distributers and partners”. He said: “I am also here to introduce our products and provide services.”
This year’s Ethio-Con exhibition brought together more than 200 companies engaged in construction, from Italy, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, to showcase their products and services at the Addis Ababa Exhibition Center.
