BY DANIEL ALEMAYEHU
In the present climate, the essence of globalization has become a tool to connect people to people and nations to nations. In this regard, the idea of living together and work in collaboration has not only become unavoidable but must. Some nations have strong bond with other countries due to various reasons. The peoples of nations might share common culture, beliefs, or perception.
In Ethiopian context, the nation has strong partnership with a number of countries around the world. Most of the country’s relations with the rest of the world is positive and can be elevated even more. To this end, Ethiopia has been partnering with most powerful countries in the world, and the people and the government of Ethiopia have been working closing with their allies. The best example might be the bilateral partnership between Ethiopia and Israel.
The two history old nations have plenty to share commonly. In different sections, the two countries have been working together throughout their long-period of partnership. Ambassador of the State of Israel to Ethiopia, Burundi, Chad, and the African Union, Aleli Admasu recently held interview the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA). The ambassador has mentioned the two nations’ history long cooperation in various sections.
According to the Ambassador, Israel has a number of resources to share with other nations though the nation is only 75 years old. Ethiopia and Israel have been working in various sections including agriculture, health, technology and innovation coupled with many others. Accordingly, Israel is very eager to share its knowledge and skills with friendly nations.
In terms of Agriculture, as to the Ambassador, it is one of the main sectors that the two nations have been functioning. As simple example could be the achievement registered in the avocado production. Four million avocado seedlings have been distributed to Ethiopian farmers. Avocado is very important agricultural product in Europe, Asia, and even in the USA. Ethiopia is an ideal place for avocado production due to its climate and its natural resources.
The ambassador also stressed that the government of Ethiopia should give special attention to the avocado production so that it will bring more blessings to the nation including the increase in foreign currency flow. Given due attention to the avocado production, it has the ability to contribute and bring more income than coffee.
The ambassador further explained that the government of Israel has been sharing its knowledge in agriculture with Ethiopia. We have invited Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture to take part in a conference held in Israel. It is true that Israel has been doing much on summer productions. We do not wait for rain; rather we purified the Mediterranean water and use it for drinking and agriculture.
This time, Israeli companies have been working with the Ministry of Agriculture on increasing agricultural production in Ethiopia. These Israel companies and volunteers are working mainly on avocado production and desert area development for agriculture. Accordingly, these companies and volunteers have trained more than 75 thousand Ethiopian farmers from different parts of the country.
We all know that avocado has plenty advantages. There is also a high demand in Europe and other parts of the world. At this very moment, in collaboration with the government, we are helping Ethiopian farmers to be more effective on avocado production. We are dealing with how to implement packaging and how to select the best quality products. The avocado project was financed by the US-AID and the Israelis have come up with their skills.
Ambassador Aleli also mentioned that the health sector is also one of the cooperation sections for the two countries. He further explained that Israelis are working in collaboration with Tikur Anbessa, Bahir Dar, Hawassa, Gondar, and Jigjiga hospitals. Regarding knowledge and skill sharing, Israel delegations of doctors have arrived in different occasions to work together and help their counterparts in Ethiopia and share their experiences.
A very good illustration could be the movement dubbed ‘Save A child’s Heart’ where two of Ethiopian Doctors were trained in Israel to cure Ethiopian children with heart diseases. Besides, two more nurses were trained, too. Due to excessive expenses to get the service in Israel, we even plan to establish a center here in Ethiopia and expand our skill transformation. Not only Ethiopia, but other African countries and nations around the world come to Israel to acquire the knowledge.
It is known that Israel is very much advanced regarding technology and innovation. In this regard, the Israeli Ambassador noted that technology and innovation is one of the sectors that the two nations are cooperating.
As to the ambassador, the two nations have had a conference with government stakeholders to discuss on promoting technology and innovation in Ethiopia. The government of Israel and the government of Ethiopia is working together to make high- tech innovations happen in Ethiopia. The two nations are working on solar energy.
Moreover, the ambassador disclosed that in terms of technology and innovation, the Ethiopian Airlines coupled with Israel Aerospace Industry have recently cooperated on changing Ethiopian passenger planes to cargo airplanes. To this regard, the two nations’ companies have finished changing one passenger airplane to cargo, and it is functioning. The other is in the pipeline. In the near future, more cargos will come. It will also help the nation to freight its local products to the world easily.
In the future, the two nations plan to teach and train Ethiopian students, engineers, and technicians by opening a center in Ethiopia and give services to the rest of Africa. Talks were held with government stakeholders such as Ministry of Skill and Labor and Ministry of Innovation, the ambassador added.
In relation to military cooperation between the two nations, the ambassador said that Israel has learnt a lot from the worst war experiences. Due to this, Israel has become one of the leading countries in military technologies. Ethiopia and Israel have been jointing acting on counter terrorism. Like the people-to-people bond of the two nations, there are a lot of technology and knowledge sharing between the countries.
In addition, Aleli said that Israeli Embassy to Ethiopia is working to bring in Israeli investors to work in Ethiopia. Three months ago, the two nations had an economic conference which was the first of its kind. It was Ethio- Israel Economic Conference. In the conference, Ethiopian higher officials including ministers, economic experts, representatives from Addis Ababa and national Chamber of Commerce have met with Israeli counterparts and manufacturing companies.
Such kind of event has the power to open more doors for both stakeholders to take their ideas and resources of investment to the table. On the event, as to Aleli, representatives of the chamber of commerce two nations’ signed an agreement for working together in the future.
According to the ambassador, the government of Ethiopia and responsible stakeholders must work on the challenges faced by international investors. These organs should work together curb such problems and create a favorable environment to the ones who want to invest in the country.
Recently, the federal government and TPLF have signed a peace accord to end the two years long war. In this regard, ambassador Aleli mentioned that the government of Israel is ready to support the agreement and implementation of the peace deal as Israel is a peace-loving country.
“In Ethiopian context, the recent war in Ethiopia was a conflict between brothers. It is very sad. The peace deal is very important and a step forward for the people of Ethiopia to live together and bring back the peace. The peace accord will also pave a way for many investors to come to Ethiopia and invest. Many international companies will be settled here, too,” noted the Ambassador.
The ambassador concluded that all the partnerships we have with Ethiopia is based on our long-rooted people-to-people bond. Like the Government of Israel, the Ethiopian Government should also responsible to take part to strengthen the partnership. We have continuous discussions with the Ethiopian government officials to make the partnerships even better. We have a very good connection.
The Ethiopian Herald January 24/2023
