Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen receives at his office new WFP Office Director
H.E. Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, received at his office this week, Hameed Nuru, the newly appointed Director for World Food Program (WFP) office and representative to AU and UNECA.
The Deputy Prime Minister congratulated WFP for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 for its efforts to support people who are endangered due to man-made conflicts and natural disasters. He also praised the role played by the World Food Program (WFP) in providing humanitarian assistance to affected people in Tigray by refraining from unnecessarily politicizing the matter.
Appreciating the ongoing support from government institutions in Ethiopia, Mr. Hameed Nuru said WFP will continue to work together with relevant bodies in fulfilling its responsibilities. In his discussion, the Director also explained the organization’s collaborative experience with the Ministry of Education of Ethiopia in registering encouraging results in the home-grown school feeding program.
Demeke also talked about situations in addressing the needs of people in the first and second rounds of humanitarian support in Tigray and the plan to carry out the third one soon. He finally called on the international community to provide the necessary support to adequately address the needs of affected people in the region
Ambassador Redwan Hussein hold talks with his Brazilian counterpart, H.E. Kenneth Da Nobrega
State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, H.E. Ambassador Redwan Hussien, and his Brazilian counterpart, H.E. Kenneth Da Nobrega have made this week their second bilateral political consultation meeting covering a range of bilateral, regional, and multilateral issues of common concern. During the meeting, the two sides reflected on the performance of signed agreements during the first consultative meeting in 2018 and further assessed new venues of cooperation.
They, in particular, assessed the Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Agreement which was signed to encourage investments and bilateral economic cooperation. Cooperation in peace-keeping missions and judicial matters related to police work and transfer of sentenced persons were also points of discussion between the two sides.
At the occasion, State Minister Redwan Hussien said Ethiopia is keen to take the relationship between the two countries to a strategic partnership level. Discussing regional issues, Ambassador Redwan has presented a briefing on critical issues that matter in the Horn of Africa and the role Ethiopia has been playing to forge a strong and peaceful relationship with its neighbors.
Speaking about constructions of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the tripartite negotiation, Ambassador Redwan said Egypt and Sudan are trying to deny Ethiopia its right to equitably and fairly utilize its water resources. Ambassador Kenneth Da Nobrega, on his part, said Brazil understands Ethiopia’s critical role in Africa and wants to create strong ties with the country to boost relations with the rest of the continent.
Also present at the meeting, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Brazil, H.E. Yalew Abate Reta reiterated attractive investment opportunities in Ethiopia and called on Brazilian investors to invest in agro-processing, textile, and manufacturing sectors. The two sides concluded their meeting ple- dging to increase cooperation on multilateral levels and cement their longstanding relationships.
Ambassador Deriba Kuma holds virtual meeting with Head of the Horn of Africa and West Africa Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway
H.E. Ambassador Deriba has held a virtual meeting with Elisabeth Schwabe-Hansen, Head of the Horn of Africa and West Africa Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway. Ambassador Deriba updated the Head of the department on the recent developments both in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region.
The Ambassador particularly emphasized the enhanced humanitarian relief efforts that the government is undertaking in the Tigray region. He said, despite such great efforts, certain members of the international community have unfortunately been occupied with counterproductive pronouncements targeting the Ethiopian government.
Ambassador Deriba underlined the importance of provision of the highly needed resources in this regard rather than counterproductive pronouncements. In addition, the Ambassador stressed Ethiopia’s commitment to peaceful resolution of the border dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia and also the ongoing negotiation over GERD.
Elisabeth Schwabe-Hansen on her part recognized the progress so far made in providing humanitarian relief effort in Tigray while also stressing the need for further access for the humanitarian actors in the region. Schwabe-Hansen also said that Norway so far has provided close to 100 million Norwegian Kroner through bilateral and UN platforms. Both Ambassador Deriba and Schwabe-Hansen agreed to continue holding regular engagements in an effort to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two sisterly countries.
Consulate General in Los Angeles hosts Business to Government Pre-Investment Virtual Meeting in West Coast of USA
The Consulate General of Ethiopia in Los Angeles in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia hosted a virtual pre-investment meeting on this week.
This meeting aimed to encourage the American companies’ representatives, residing on the West Coast of the United States of America, to enable them to explore and invest in Ethiopia and to have a general overview of the investment opportunities and incentives and packages in energy, agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, and other priority areas of investment in Ethiopia available for potential business companies.
This pre-investment virtual meeting has been attended by senior officials and experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopian Investment Commission, and consuls from the Consulate General office.
H.E Ambassador Mulugeta Kelil, Consul General of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in Los Angeles, in his opening remarks emphasized the importance of this kind of pre-investment meeting appreciates the valuable exchange views regarding investment opportunities and incentive packages and lead the investors to visit and do business in Ethiopia.
Moreover, he mentioned that the Consulate General office is committed to facilitating the process of visiting and investing in Ethiopia. He concluded his remarks by encouraging all the company representatives who participated in the virtual meeting to visit and start doing business in Ethiopia.
In general, the representatives from the Ethiopian side shed light on the untapped investment opportunities and incentive packages of the above-mentioned sectors. In addition to this, the business company representatives on their part have expressed their interest to invest in energy, agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, and other priority sectors of investment opportunities in Ethiopia.
Ambassador Mulu Solomon holds talks with Barbara Unmüßig.
H.E. Ambassador Mulu Solomon, Special Envoy, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the Federal Republic of Germany has met virtually with Barbara Unmüßig, President of Heinrich Böll Foundation.
Discussions focused on the situation in Tigray, the upcoming 6th national election, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the situation in Ethiopia -Sudan border.
On the occasion, H.E. Ambassador Mulu briefed the President on the background of the situation in Tigray and the latest situation in the region. ‘The government has given unfettered access and unhindered mobility to Media’s and International Organizations but relief supports from the international organizations remained low’ the Ambassador noted. In this regard H.E. Ambassador Mulu commended and thanked the balanced view and support rendered by the German government in assisting the humanitarian and rehabilitation efforts, in the fight against Covid-19 as well as in supporting robustly the ongoing reform and the upcoming election.
Barbara Unmüßig on her part expressed appreciation for the briefing, recalled the foundation’s happiness when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to leadership and in this regard, assured her institution’s relentless support for a peaceful, democratic, and diverse Ethiopia.
BY HIZKEL HAILU
The Ethiopian Herald May 23/2021
