APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The government of Britain has launched a preferential trading scheme with 65 poor and developing countries especially with African nations.
Dubbed the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), the program would remove or reduce tariffs and simplifies trading rules with European nation.
Launching the scheme in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa on Monday, the UK’s Minister for International Trade, Nigel Huddleston, said DCTS would lower import costs on a range of products.
DCTS covers 65 countries with a population of 3.3 billion people, over half of whom are in Africa, the statement said, and added the scheme was “more generous” than similar arrangements the UK was formerly part of under its EU membership.
“It (scheme) will create opportunities for businesses around the world, supporting livelihoods, creating jobs and diversifying local and international supply chains,” he said.
Ethiopia hopes the scheme will allow it to exploit the UK market and revive its export sector which suffered a setback after the U.S. suspended the Horn of Africa country from its African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade arrangement over alleged human rights abuses.
It will benefit developing countries looking to diversify and increase exports, driving their prosperity and reducing their need for aid.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Hassan Mohammed, Ethiopia’s State Minister for Industry, said the country’s manufacturing sector had been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the AGOA suspension.
Under the scheme, Ethiopia and 46 other African countries will be able to produce goods using components from many more countries, growing their opportunities to trade with the UK.
MG/abj/APA