Negotiations on trade in financial services will be one of the key issues of Ethiopia's WTO accession process. This is due to both the importance of financial services for the economy at large and the nature of trade in services. Regarding the former, financial services, which include banking, insurance, securities and related services, play an important role for national development by steering the flow of resources within the economy. Conversely, the banking industry can also be a source of fragility, especially in countries where domestic economic activity is concentrated in particular industries or commodities, making it difficult to diversify risk and absorb shocks to the financial system.

There is currently a dynamic discussion within the international donor community about a segment of the aid process that is usually ignored or let at the disposal of lawyers or procurement specialists, even in the context of the aid harmonisation and aid effectiveness discussions – the procurement of aid. Nevertheless, there is unanimity that good practices in procurement are a key factor for effective and efficient provision of aid and also contribute to a framework of good governance and free and fair competition in general. In this context, the EU and its Member States have been discussing the harmonisation of their respective procedures for the procurement of development assistance contracts.