The House of Peoples’ Representatives, in its 21st regular session held on 1st April 2008, hears the eight-month performance report of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the institutions accountable to it.

The performance report of the ministry, presented by His Excellency Ato Girma Birru, minister of Trade and Industry, comprehensively revolves around seven major issues.

The report mainly comprises activities carried out in promoting export trade, expansion of industries and related sectors prioritized in the five-year strategic plan, results achieved with regard to strengthening and attracting investment, process of privatization, trade negotiations underway and associated preparations, stabilizing and controlling of inflation in consumer commodities and capacity building initiatives undertaking in the ministry.

The report indicated satisfactory growth rate and encouraging changes have been registered in export trade in different sectors of industries that boosted the hard currency income to the country securing 854.5 million USD from agricultural and industrial products exported this fiscal year, which is by far much better than the previous year showing a growth rate of 32 %.

The report states that coffee, leather and leather products, meat and livestock, flower, chat, textile and clothing as well as fruit and vegetables made immense contribution in bringing hard currency to our country that also witnessed the double digit growth of the export trade is the real manifestation of the rapid economic growth registered for the last five consecutive fiscal years.

The report also depicts that activities done and results achieved in the leather and shoe development, which is the first of its kind in the history of the nation, the progress in textile industry producing cloth and tailored items, sugar development sector, cement and construction, attracting investment including Foreign Direct Investment are encouraging and promising to gear the socio-economic development endeavors to a reliable stage to bring changes in the economic structure of the country.

The report of the ministry has also brought in to light the civil service reform activity being launched as a key tool for institutional transformation to render efficient and effective services in core areas with the challenges encountered in due courses of actions.

Meanwhile, his Excellency Girma Birru gave explanations to questions and comments forwarded from the parties and personalities in the House in light of the main ideas of the report.

Finally, the session came to an end with the concluding remarks of the Trade and Industry Affairs Standing Committee lauding the performance report and commenting on matters that require attention in future for better results.