ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government on Saturday disclosed the formation of an advisory council to evaluate privatization of large state-owned enterprise.
The 21-member advisory council, which was formed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, is said to embrace senior financial sector experts from Ethiopia's private and public sectors.
Fitsum Arega, chief of staff of the Ethiopian prime minister's office, said that the council will closely monitor the process of the privatization of Ethiopia's large state-owned enterprises.
"The Council will ensure the process is managed with utmost transparency and accountability," Arega said on Saturday.
The Executive Committee of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Ethiopia's ruling party, in June this year disclosed its plan to partially liberalize key sectors of the East African country's economy.
The decision, among other things, aimed at expanding mixed ownership or outright full privatization of state-owned enterprises such as railway projects, sugar development, industrial parks, hotels and other manufacturing industries.
It also disclosed the plan to allow minority shares in Ethiopia's large state-owned enterprises, mainly Ethio-Telecom, Ethiopian Airlines, electricity generation projects and the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise.
The Ethiopian government had until now resisted liberalizing key sectors to foreign and local investors, saying it needs to protect its economy from multinational firms and ensure domestic ownership of the economy is kept intact.
