Sunday, June 19, 2011
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hailemariam visits Saudi Arabia
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hailemariam Desalegn paid an official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last weekend, June 11th – 12th where he met and held “fruitful discussions” with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz Al Sa'ud, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, and other senior officials. The meetings focused on the bilateral relationship of Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia as well as on Saudi investments in Ethiopia and the possibility of securing Saudi financial assistance for development in Ethiopia and ways to enhance ties. The talks also covered regional and international issues of mutual interest. The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said that three agreements would be signed covering “the promotion of livestock and agriculture, the promotion and protection of investments and avoidance of double taxation”. Later this year, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia are scheduled to hold the second meeting of their Joint Economic Commission in Addis Ababa. The first meeting of the Commission took place in Riyadh two years ago.
In a subsequent press conference, Ato Hailemariam who was heading a nine member delegation said Ethiopia looked forward to cementing its historical bilateral ties with Saudi Arabia. He said that Saudi Arabia was looking to Ethiopia for workers and had indicated it would be able to employ around 30,000 people in various capacities. The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that Ethiopia would make sure that any who went to work in Saudi Arabia would be properly trained and a number of training centers were being set up to make sure this would be the case.
Ato Hailemariam noted that Saudi businessmen were among the top investors in Ethiopia, with some 2 billion Saudi riyals invested in agriculture, but this did not, he said, reflect the actual potential available. He called on Saudi businessmen to visit Ethiopia and explore the investment opportunities available in agriculture, agro-processing, energy, infrastructure, mining, construction, real estate and tourism. The numbers of Saudi tourists in Ethiopia has been steadily increasing in recent years. Ethiopia continued to create an advantageous investment environment and he hoped Saudi investors would take advantage of the possibilities for investment and joint ventures.
Ato Hailemariam noted that Ethiopia had already initiated steps that could benefit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its ongoing program to provide food security for its increasing population. He pointed out that Ethiopia had “the best environment for investments and tourism because of a good climate, rich flora and fauna, attractive historic sites and sound infrastructure.” He also emphasized that Ethiopia had a foreign policy focused squarely on tackling economic backwardness, poverty, lack of good governance and democracy, and this was why economic diplomacy was at the centre of its foreign policy.
Source: Walta Information