ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia exported 245 million U.S. dollars of goods to China during the Ethiopian Fiscal Year 2017/18 that ended July 8, an Ethiopian official said on Friday.
Speaking to Xinhua, Wondimu Filate, Head of Public Relations and Communication Affairs Office at the Ethiopia Ministry of Trade (MoT), said Ethiopia's exports to China has steadily increased after the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000.
"FOCAC created an important platform for collective dialogue and the effective mechanism of practical cooperation especially on economic issues between African states including Ethiopia, and China," he said.
Ethiopian exports to China include agricultural, industrial and mineral products such as coffee, oil seeds, sesame, leather and tantalum.
Filate also said Ethiopia's exports to China during the 2017/18 fiscal year of 245 million U.S. dollars represented about 8.65 percent of the East African country's total global exports.
Ethiopia exported 2.83 billion U.S. dollars of goods during the 2017/18 fiscal year, substantially lower than the 5.23 billion U.S. dollars the country had planned to earn during the just concluded period.
Filate said commodity prices slump in international market, lack of coherent domestic market supply, under-invoicing, unrest in various parts of Ethiopia, contraband trading and frequent power outages contributed to the disappointing export revenues.
However, Filate said the Ministry of Trade is working with relevant government and private stakeholders to boost the country's export performance in the current fiscal year 2018/19, especially to emerging economies including China.
