a developing country, Ethiopia’s economy demands strong foreign relations. Due to this, Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed has been pushing for strong diplomatic relations on basis of mutual benefits and the wellbeing of Ethiopian Diasporas.
His recent visit to the Republic of South Korea is believed to bring about important input to boost the ongoing reform in general but to the economic development in particular.
As his regular visits, he started with attracting Ethiopian communities not only alive but also those forefathers who sacrificed their invaluable souls to make the Ethio-Korea relation thicker than water. He remembered them by putting wreath at a war memorial with President Moon Jae-In of the Republic of South Korea.
Then Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed met with members of the Ethiopian community in a dinner reception organized by the Ethiopian Embassy to South Korea. He encouraged members of the community to work towards supporting their country from where they are in the spirit of ‘Medemer’. He shared them his belief in synergy for renaissance of Ethiopia. Without the cumulative participation of all Ethiopians everywhere, it is [impossible] to see well developed Ethiopia.
Before that-on the same day, August 25, the Premier met with the President of the EXIM Bank of the Republic of Korea. The parties discussed the ongoing and potential new support to Ethiopia. The EXIM Bank supports the currently ongoing projects those exceed 600 million USD while a recent support of 300 million USD has been signed under the Korea-Ethiopia Economic Development Cooperation Fund for the 2019-2020 period.
Next to EXIM Bank, Dr Abiy visited Korea Institute for Science and Technology (KIST) together with his delegation. There, they were briefed on the contribution of science and technology in building Korea’s strong economy.
While the current cooperation between Ethiopia and KIST exists between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education as well as Adama Science and Technology University, Dr. Abiy expressed interest in collaborating to set up an institute like KIST in Ethiopia.
Early in the morning of August 26, Prime Minister Dr. Abiy met with President Moon Jae-In in a bilateral meeting. President Moon-Jae appreciated the efforts being made by Prime Minister Abiy which he expressed: “The world is taking note of.”
The two reached consensus on elevating Ethio-South Korea relations to a strategic partnership following which the two leaders presided over the signing of five agreements. First they signed memorandum of understanding on mutual waiver of visa requirements for diplomatic or official service passport holders.
Secondly, they signed agreement on the establishment of a joint ministerial commission. Thirdly, they agreed on cooperation related to standardization, certification, conformity assessment and technical regulation. This is very important for Ethiopia to scale up standard exports.
The fourth and fifth agreements are on environmental cooperation and loan for the establishment of center of excellence for Adama Science and Technology University project.
The two leaders ended the day by recounting the historic ties that bind the people of Ethiopia and Korea together on the state dinner offered by President Moon Jae’s in honor of Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
The following day, the Premier also met with Hyundai leadership and steel making giant company POSCO, and discussed the potential expansion of investments in Ethiopia. He explored the possibility of setting up steel works in Ethiopia to meet the current domestic demand in construction as well as available labor power.
After meeting with Hyundai and POSCO leadership, Dr. Abiy invited the multinational conglomerate to invest in Ethiopia and create a positive impact in the country and the region in a bilateral discussion with the Executive Vice President of Samsung, Won-Kyong Kim.
On his part, Kim also appreciated the economic reform policies currently underway and expressed interest in exploring the capacity for investment.
Then, the Premier appeared on the Ethiopia Korea Business Forum organized by the Ethiopian Embassy to South Korea with the objective of promoting investments in Ethiopia. In his remarks, Dr. Abiy expressed the various activities currently being undertaken by his administration to create a conducive business environment for investments to thrive.
Noting the historic relations between the two countries, he called upon South Korean businesses to join Ethiopia’s journey to prosperity.
In summing up his strategic partnership visit to South Korea, Prime Minister Dr. Abiy met with the President of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and discussed further strengthening of the support to Ethiopia.
He expressed appreciation to KOICA for the development work that they have undertaken in education, water and agriculture. KOICA expressed interest to further develop the cooperation with Ethiopia in various areas.
The Ethiopian Herald August 30, 2019
BY DIRRIBA TESHOME
