Last week was a busy week for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. He spent the week in Japan, South Korea and Israel in his effort to give a new lease of life for Ethiopia’s relations with these countries.
Bearing in mind the bilateral agreements reached in the process, one can claim that the discussions the PM and Foreign Minister Gedu Andaregachew had with the political and business leaders of these countries have been a success.
Led by the Premier, the Ethiopian delegation has managed to make important political, economic and business deals with the leaders of the three countries and mobilized support for the ongoing reform in Ethiopia.
The leaders of South Korea, Japan, and Israel, President Moon Jae-in, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have also expressed their appreciation of the ongoing political and economic reform in Ethiopia and pledged to provide support.
Abiy and South Korean President presided over the signing of five agreements including MoU on the establishment of a joint ministerial commission, and loan agreement for the establishment of center of excellence for Adama Science and Technology University project.
He also met with the President of Korea’s EXIM Bank and discussed ongoing and potential new support to Ethiopia. The Bank’s support for currently ongoing projects exceeds 600 million USD while recent support of 300 million USD has been signed under the Korea-Ethiopia Economic Development Cooperation Fund for the 2019-2020 period.
In his stay in Japan, Abiy met with Japan’s PM, Shinzo Abe. He briefed PM Abe on Ethiopia’s ongoing political and economic reforms and shared the vision of making Ethiopia one of the top five leading economies in Africa through the homegrown economic reforms currently in the pipeline, and called upon Japan’s support for this initiative. The Premier also requested Abe to facilitate work opportunities for skilled youth in various sectors in Japan.
Pm Shinzo Abe expressed his support for the domestic reforms being undertaken in Ethiopia. He also acknowledged Ethiopia’s role in promoting peace with Eritrea; in South Sudan talks and PM Abiy’s role in the Sudan agreements.
In his meeting with Yohei Sasakawa, philanthropist and Chairman of the Nippon Foundation, which leads agricultural support programs in Ethiopia through Sasakawa Africa, Abiy encouraged assistance on the Addis Ababa rivers cleaning project and development of urban agriculture, based on Japanese success of cleaning up river systems.
Foreign Minister Gedu also held talks with Japanese investors, and the CEOs and senior officers of Japan’s renowned companies Marubeni and Isuzu on the sidelines of the TICAD Conference on the issues of investment and trade.
In his trip to Israel during the weekends, Abiy recounted the long standing and historical relations between the two countries as the basis for strengthening further engagements through investments in agriculture, irrigation, ICT and other sectors.
Abiy and Prime Minister Netanyahu presided over signing of a five point joint declaration. The parties have agreed to further strengthen the bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries. They have agreed to further strengthen their cooperation to implement the agreements signed at various levels in the areas of agriculture, water, irrigation, health and science and technology.
The parties will examine the possibilities of concluding additional agreement(s) in other fields of cooperation, including cyber security, telecommunication and space science and technology.
As Ethiopia is carrying out a reform, it needs, more than ever, the support of the international community. In this regard, the Premier’s engagement with the leaders of the three countries was fruitful in that it has resulted in bilateral agreements in support of the ongoing reform and development efforts.
The Ethiopian Herald September 5/2019
