Dr. Ibrahim Al Assaf, The Saudi Minister of Finance and the Ethiopian Minister of Finance and Development Sufian Ahmed, signed Friday evening an agreement for mutual exemption of tax and customs duties on the activities of air transport enterprises of both countries. This came on the sidelines of the Saudi-East African Forum currently held in the Ethiopian capital- Addis Ababa. Dr Al Assaf, in a statement to The Saudi Press Agency (SPA), said that the agreement is a stable legal framework which identifies clearly tax transaction in the exercise of both Saudi and Ethiopian contracting airliners in the two countries, as its reciprocal exemption from Customs duties and income taxes derived from the activity of these institutions and also extended for employees in these institutions. Referring to the volume of trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia, Dr.Al Assaf said it is growing steadily, rising from about SR 206 million in 2000 to about SR 455 million in 2007. He hoped that this signed agreement will play a positive role in increasing trade exchanges between the two countries and for establishing more joint investment projects. --SPA
