Ethio-Turkish businesswomen to strengthen business ties

Saime Yildiz with Roman Tesfaye
Saime Yildiz with Roman Tesfaye


Date posted: October 26, 2014

BERHANU FEKADE

The first-ever delegation of businesswomen from Turkey visited and held business meetings for three days in the capital.

The meetings have been organized by the first lady, Roman Tesfaye, who in June, had led Ethiopian delegates to Turkey.

The business-to-business meetings with Ethiopian counterparts were held at the Ethiopian National Archives and Library Agency, where 25 businesswomen were represented from the confederation of businessmen and industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON). According to Saime Yildiz, head of the delegation, the group came for the first time representing women-owned businesses from TUSKON.

First Lady Roman told reporters that the visit and the business-to-business meetings were organized by her office, which, according to the first lady, is an opportunity to nurture business environments from both sides. She said another group of Ethiopian business owners are looking for more exposure to the Turkish business climate. The first lady also noted that women engaged in the textile and garment and leather sectors are making use of the global market. According to Roman, in pursuit of support for those women investors, she (Roman) will work on assisting women who are excelling in their career. She also said that she would assist those who will work in providing job opportunities for the most marginalized women in the society.

The first lady is known for instigating an initiative dubbed “Connecting 1500 Women and Young Girls to the Export Market,” which among others will provide opportunities for women entrepreneurs to have access to foreign markets. One of such business owners is Bethlehem Berhane, founder and owner of Entoto Beth Artisan located around Entoto Mountain in the northern part of the capital. Bethlehem told The Reporter that she employees 145 staffs, out of that 128 are women from the most deprived parts of the Entoto locality. Being part of the delegation in June, led by the first lady, she said she had found Turkish suppliers for her company. Bethlehem noted that currently her company exports jewels and leather goods to the US and European markets.

She said she is venturing on to expand her business to processing metal accessories aimed at substituting importations of accessories and related inputs. That said, the new planned expansion will cost some 22.5 million birr and will employ some 300 women. Yildiz told The Reporter that companies like Entoto Beth Artisan are getting momentum because they are more focused on social business activities. She went on to say that the impacts of the likes of Bethlehem surfacing are appreciated in the outside world.

The Turkish businesswomen, according to Yildiz, are extending their stay in town for ten days to look more into big enterprises so that they might have more mutual foundations on the business prospects.

According to Gashaw Debebe, secretary general of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association, the two nations have enjoyed relationships since way back in the days of the Ottoman Empire. First lady Roman said that both Turkey and Ethiopia have a trade volume of USD three billion. She also mentioned that there are some 350 Turkish companies investing in Ethiopia, out of which she named Ayka Addis Textile and Bmet Cables manufacturers.

Source: The Reporter , October 25, 2014


Related News

This is too much! [About the Lies and Slanders directed to Gulen movement]

Prime minister said during the fourth ordinary general meeting of the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) in March of 2012:
“You are not backed by dark forces. You are not backed by the mafia, gangs, junta regimes. You are not backed by the bankers in Galata. You did not take advantage of the sources of the Treasury or public banks. You did not act according to an ideology. You did not surrender to the pressures and roadblocks. You only trusted in the people. Because you only relied on people, you are great and make this country great.”

Bank Asya’s corporate governance rating increases

Bank Asya, a leading Turkish financial institution, announced on Sunday that their corporate governance rating had increased in June over its score from last year.

Koza gold firm starts up company in UK

The gold company, whose owner Akın İpek is known to have close ties with Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s Hizmet (Service) movement, has been hit by the suspension of several of its mining fields.

Guest post: Turkey and the problem of political continuity

Erdogan has not only replaced thousands of suspected Gulenists in the police force and the judiciary. He has also sought, with mixed results, to make the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors directly accountable to the government.

Bank Asya says raising capital, set for growth

“Bank Asya expects to raise its total capital by TL 300 million to TL 1.2 billion. … We sold an 18 percent stake in the retail chain A101 as part of this plan,” the bank said. Bank Asya said its capital adequacy ratio is 14.8 percent — well above the conventionally accepted minimum level of 12 percent — and that it expects to enjoy further growth in 2014. The bank said it expects the capital adequacy ratio to reach 17 percent, making it one of the five strongest (in capital) banks in Turkey. Previously, the bank held 21.84 percent of the shares in A101.

TUSKON execs in Ethiopia for trade talks

Top executives from the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), one of the country’s leading business confederations, are in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to hold talks on mutual trade and investment relations with senior officials such as the Ethiopian prime minister and the ambassador to Ankara.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

The turmoil in Turkey – The terror threat is real and is made worse by Erdogan’s paranoia

Turkish businessmen have first iftar with Syrian refugees in Hatay

Exclusive: Turkey, Kosovo violated fundamental rights of expelled teachers, UN body says

Evolution of the Gulen [Hizmet] Movement

The [Gulen] movement was a shade

Gülen condemns Paris shootings, says all forms of terror deplorable

Erdoğan’s war against Hizmet: Step by step

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News