Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Gedu Andargachew has traveled to Moscow recently upon the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Lemma Megersa, Minister of Defense has also traveled to Moscow along with Gedu.
Among other things, the foreign ministers of the two countries held talks on regional and bilateral issues.
Cooperation between the two countries in the areas of trade and investment, development and science and technology were also agenda items during the discussions.
Gedu has also sat with Sputnik News Service and discussed Ethiopia’s economic, bilateral and regional ambitions.
Foreign Minister Gedu emphasized that Ethiopia wanted to see increased trade with Russia as well as expanded economic activities and investment flows. The mining sector and hydrocarbon exploration were two key areas where Russia and Ethiopia could be working together.
He said he and Foreign Minister Lavrov had discussed how to strengthen relations between Russia and Ethiopia in the field of science and technology, areas in which Ethiopia would like to learn from Russia’s experience.
Ethiopia also wanted to strengthen the existing military cooperation under which Ethiopian personnel are trained in Russia and the country receives military equipment.
He had raised the possibility of Russian companies being engaged in Ethiopian railroad construction; and this would be a matter for detailed negotiations in the future.
The Minister hoped
Russian companies could invest in Ethiopia as the country was a harbour for
Foreign Direct Investment from across the world and it was pushing to assist
Russian companies to come to Ethiopia.
Gedu pointed out that the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement would provide new momentum for boosting pan-African trade and creating more business opportunities. It would foster intra-continental trade and business development as well as spur industrialization and employment opportunities. Every corner of Africa would be open, creating opportunities for business people throughout the continent.
The Foreign Minister said Ethiopia was interested in the peaceful use of nuclear power for energy. He said negotiations were under way with Russian State Nuclear Corporation Rosatom to construct Ethiopia’s first nuclear power plant.
They had signed a three-year road map on cooperation in April, and he hoped an agreement might be signed during the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi on October 24. He said Ethiopia would be represented at Sochi at the highest level, and he hoped the Russia-Africa summit would boost relations between Ethiopia and Russia.
Ethiopia, he added, could be a gateway for Russia to Africa. Another important area for cooperation should be a greater focus on international affairs, such as fighting terrorism.
“We need more agreements and to push relations to the higher level,” he said. Gedu and Lavrov had agreed that the relationship between Russia and Ethiopia should be at the highest level, at strategic level, whether in specific sectoral cooperation or in cooperation in international areas.
The Ethiopian Herald September 19, 2019
