From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Thu Jul 17 2008 - 10:57:06 EDT
Ethiopia says Djibouti holds off on port tariffs
Thursday 17 July 2008 03:00.
July 16, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) - Land-locked Ethiopia said on Wednesday it
had received assurances from President Ismail Omar Guelleh of
neighbouring Djibouti that new port service tariffs will not be applied
on it until agreement is reached.
Worried about the negative impact of new port charges due to begin
mid-August at a time of already high inflation and rising global food
and oil prices, Ethiopia last week sent Trade and Industry Minister
Girma Birru to Djibouti.
Birru was told by Guelleh the tariffs will not be applied until both
nations have agreed on the level of adjustments needed, an Ethiopian
government source told Reuters.
"Following discussions held between Trade Minister Girma and President
Guelleh in Djibouti, the president has assured Girma that the government
will not let the new tariffs be applied to Ethiopia before agreements
are reached on the adjusted prices," the official said.
Djiboutian officials could not immediately be contacted.
The country's port is Ethiopia's main gateway for imports and exports
after it lost the Red Sea ports of Assab and Masawa when Eritrea won its
independence from Ethiopia in 1991.
Ethiopian officials say Djibouti earns about $300 million a year for
handling some 4.6 million tonnes of Ethiopian goods.
The proposed new charges, which would raise port service prices by a
range of 15 to 50 percent, could cost Ethiopia an extra $22.5 million
annually, according to Ethiopian government sources.
(Reuters)
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