Ethiopia has received a request from Egypt’s Sawiris family, which owns multi-billion dollar conglomerates, to invest in the country’s hotels sector, said a top government official.

Ethiopia is negotiating with some Egyptian businessmen to boost new investments, and has received various requests from Egyptian investors to launch projects in the country, Ethiopian Prime Minister’s Adviser Getachew Reda was quoted as saying in a Daily News Egypt report.

“El-Sewedi and Abo Elenin already have investments in Ethiopia, and we are negotiating increasing investments,” added Reda.

Reda explained Ethiopia encourages Egypt to invest in wheat agriculture to provide a supply of the grain for the Middle East and Russia.

“The time frame for ratifying the agreement is very tricky, but there are intentions to join the agreement, and for Ethiopia it requires in depth negotiations. No offer of goods has been made to implement, but the country should work on providing comprehensive goods,” said Reda.

“The establishment of the Free Trade Area [FTA] and the investment between the countries is very impressive.”