On Monday, October 09 the joint session of the third year and sixth tenure of the House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) and House of Federation (HoF) was opened. During the opening session of the two houses, President Sahle-work Zewde presented the political, diplomatic, social and economic plans of the government for the 2023/24 fiscal year.
President Sahle-work also highlighted the main achievements of the government during the past fiscal year. During her speech, President Sahle-work called upon all Ethiopians to work for united Ethiopia by building shared narratives. Here are among the key points President Sahle-work highlighted during the session.
Putting Ethiopia on solid foundation
Ethiopians have to diligently work for a common narrative to put the country on solid foundation. We have to repair the fractures and differences. Ethiopians have to promote shared narratives to foster national state building, which currently is facing multifaceted challenges.
It is vital to reach on common consensus on major national issues to build strong and developed country. To reach in to national consensus on major national issues, we have to properly use the National Dialogue Commission. Ethiopia is gifted in natural resources and the potential is still untapped, we have to exploit our natural resources for development in unison.
Ethiopia is symbol of independence
Ethiopia has made a lot of contributions to humanity. Ethiopia has served as the symbol of independence through its spirit of patriotism, igniting the black people across the world to rally for independence.
Our history shows that Ethiopians in unison have registered notable victories which become a symbol of independence even for others. Together we overcame many difficulties and survived. We have crossed a long way for centuries in solidarity with one another and stood together and defended the enemies that had fought us.
Diplomacy
On its foreign relations, Ethiopia will focus on increasing friendly countries and reducing enmity. It gives due focus on embracing development partners and economic integration with neighbors. Ethiopia will focus on improving the prevailing political relationship with neighboring countries to trade ties so as to develop economic integration of the region.
Ethiopia’s diplomatic achievements during the concluded year were magnificent and will be further scaled up during this budget year. Ethiopia becomes member of BRICS, which implies a huge diplomatic success. Ethiopia will enhance the country’s acceptance at the international arena.
Economic development
Ethiopian government is implementing policies to fight poverty, to diversify the economy and achieve the 10 year development plan. Ethiopian economy grew by 7.5% during the concluded fiscal year and Ethiopia planned to increase economic growth to 7.9% during this budget year.
During the concluded budget year, Ethiopia has created over 3.5 million new jobs. Over three million jobs will be created in the current fiscal year and Ethiopia also plans to create over 9.1 million jobs in the coming three years.
Our economy is entering a new era of sustained expansion and development emerging from difficulty. The Home Grown Economic Reform plays vital role in turning the challenges that the economy has faced in to opportunities. Agriculture, manufacturing, service finance, investment has played crucial role in supporting the registered encouraging economic development. About160 new factories opened through the ‘Let Ethiopia Produce’ initiative.
Construction of GERD
The civil work construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will be completed this budget year. Ethiopia successfully conducted the final and fourth round filling of GERD during the concluded fiscal year.
Currently, the construction of GERD has reached more than 90% and the civil work construction of the dam is expected to be completed during this budget year. GERD is crucial to achieve Ethiopia’s prosperity.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 14 OCTOBER 2023
