On November 13th, Mr. Devano Kodil, Ambassador and Deputy Director of the Ethiopian Embassy in China, and Mr. Solomon Macaulay, Counsellor, visited HIETC. Zhu Hongliang, a leading official at the Provincial Department of Commerce, attended the discussion meeting. Chen Changqing, Executive Deputy General Manager of HICC, Zheng Jie, General Engineer and Chairman of the Northwestern Company, and Chen Tong, Chairman of HIETC, warmly received the guests.

At the beginning of the meeting, a brief introduction was given on the historical evolution, main business, and foreign cooperation of HICC and HIETC.

During the discussion, Ambassador Devano Kodil highly recognized the achievements made by HICC and HIETC. He mentioned that China and Ethiopia have a deep traditional friendship. China is not only Ethiopia's largest investor but also Ethiopia's largest trading partner. At this year's third "Belt and Road" Summit held in Beijing, the leaders of both countries once again reached a consensus and announced the establishment of a full-time strategic partnership, providing better opportunities for bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Ethiopia has tremendous market potential and rich resources. This meeting has shown him the high conformity between Ethiopia and Hubei. He is more confident in expanding the scale of bilateral cooperation and broadening cooperation areas. He also stated that the Ethiopian Embassy in China will play a positive role as a bridge and link, and sincerely invites participating companies to visit Ethiopia for on-site inspections to further promote face-to-face communication between Ethiopian government and enterprises to jointly promote fruitful cooperation between Ethiopia and Hubei to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.

Zhu Hongliang extended his warm welcome to Ambassador Devano Kodil and his entourage's visit to Hubei Province. He also pointed out that HICC and HIETC are important platforms and "windows" for Hubei Province's foreign economic and trade cooperation. They play a positive leading and demonstration role in "going global" and carrying out foreign economic and trade cooperation in Hubei enterprises. The visit of Ambassador Devano Kodil is a powerful promotion for Hubei's export-oriented enterprises to carry out foreign economic and trade cooperation and improve their international management ability. As the competent department, the Provincial Department of Commerce will further improve services, work with the Ethiopian Embassy in China to actively explore deeper and broader cooperation methods, promote China-Ethiopia cooperation to achieve more fruitful results.

Chen Changqing said in the discussion that HICC and HIETC are among the first enterprises in Hubei Province to "go global" and have always been committed to promoting economic development and regional cooperation. The steady development of China-Ethiopia friendly relations provides a good opportunity for deeper communication in business areas, which not only means economic growth for enterprises but also cultural exchange, knowledge sharing, and innovation promotion. He hopes that after this meeting, both sides can explore more cooperation and investment opportunities in infrastructure, international trade, new energy and other fields. He firmly believes that with a win-win mindset and through complementary advantages, we can promote the prosperity and development of both economies.

During the discussion, Chen Tong introduced HIETC's four main business tracks: bulk trade, overseas projects, overseas parks, and overseas warehouses (electric commerce). As one of the important "pioneers" among Hubei Province's "going global" enterprises, after years of exploration and cultivation, HIETC has successively carried out import and export trade businesses such as iron ore, automobiles, coal in more than 30 countries and regions around the world. Ethiopia is an important member of BRICS together with China. It is one of the largest countries in Africa with a significant geopolitical position. Its rich mineral resources and promising second-hand car market are important points in HIETC's African strategic layout. It is expected to establish more diversified cooperation methods through communication to create a new situation for China-Ethiopia economic and trade development.

HuoMeng from the Ethiopian Embassy in China attended the discussion meeting; Meng Fanguang, General Manager of HIETC; Du Jun, Chief Accountant; and relevant department heads attended the discussion meeting.