The Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations (ECCSA) has been working with the Government of Ethiopia specifically with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to come up with a viable Dialogue forum that would address the concerns of the business community and the government over the issues that are bottlenecks to the development of business and investment in the country. As a result, a joint task force has been working on the institutional arrangement of the forum. This joint committee of experts was drawn from the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The committee, in the process of developing the institutional set up of the forum, has considered best practices of other countries. The new institutional set up of the forum is expected to ensure the continuity of the dialogue between the government and the private sector. The forum is expected to be co-chaired by the Minster of the Ministry of Trade and Industry on the government side and by the President of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations on the private sector side.
The private sector would be represented by the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, the umbrella organization in the Chamber system of the country, and its member Chambers and associations that represent the regional and Sectoral interests of the business community. This includes all the manufacturing, service and trade sectors. On the other hand, the government would be represented by all concerned government bodies that have strong affiliation with business and investment of the country.
The forum takes dialogue as a vital instrument and this basically emanates from the strong conviction that dialogue is the best instrument to come to terms and promote common interest.
The forum is to be conducted three times a year and there would be a fourth one expected to be chaired by the Prime Minister of the country. Similar forum is expected to be replicated in the Regions where by regional issues are to be addressed. The actors in such regional forum are supposed to be the respective Regional Governments and the Regional Chambers of Commerce and Sectoral Associations and City Chambers of Commerce and Sectoral Associations and Sectoral Associations. Likewise, dialogue forum at the Woreda and local administration levels are to be promoted once the system is in place.
This forum is believed to serve as an ideal platform to promote the common interest of the two parties in view of creating an enabling environment.
ECCSA strongly believes that this common agenda of creating a favorable business and investment atmosphere can be achieved only through dialogue and mutual understanding. The forum can be viewed as a starting point for further cooperation between the government and the private sector.