State TV said Abiy told a meeting of large taxpayers in the
capital Addis Ababa that his government was finalizing a new law
to let foreigners own real estate property although he did not
say when the legislation would be introduced in parliament.
"We will introduce a law which will allow foreigners to own
property," he said, adding that the government also intended to
amend existing laws to open up the country's retail sector,
which is currently restricted to Ethiopians only.
"It (economy) was closed, but now we will slightly open it.
So we want you to be ready as well," he said.
In recent years Abiy's government has been opening up parts
of the tightly controlled economy such as telecoms and banking
to foreign investment, as part of a plan to boost inflows of
foreign capital to drive growth and create jobs for the country
of more than 100 million people.
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