Ethiopia on Tuesday announced it has partnered with South Korea to build a coffee park as part of the national plan to promote the country’s specialty coffee products to the global community, reported IOL. The Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority said the park will be built at a cost of 50 million U.S. dollars in an area of 30 hectares in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
Hyiru Nuru, market information and control director at the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, said the new coffee park will have a coffee museum and coffee market center as well as various other facilities and it will take three years for completion.
Last week, the Ethiopian government had unveiled a new national initiative, dubbed “Ethiopian Coffee,” to establish a national umbrella coffee brand to boost the country’s share of coffee export in the international market. The initiative is aimed to spur the acceptance of Ethiopia’s coffee in the global market, according to the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA).
The ECTA also said that the new government-led initiative would enhance the current weak international presence and image of Ethiopia’s major coffee varieties, such as Yirgacheffe, Harrar, and Sidamo coffee.
Adugna Debella, ECTA’s Director-General, said the new brand of Ethiopian Coffee is of paramount importance for developing the coffee sector. He also stressed that the new initiative would help the East African country to decide and negotiate the price of coffee in the international market.
