A joint Ethiopia-Egyptian statement after talks between their Foreign Ministers… At the beginning of this week, Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Tedros Adhanom and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic Egypt, Mohamed Kamel Amr, met and held discussions. Following their talks a joint press statement was issued. “The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mohamed Kamel Amr and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr Tedros Adhanom met in Addis Ababa on Tuesday 18th June 2013. “The two ministers reiterated their commitment to strengthen their bilateral relations and coordinate their efforts to reach an understanding regarding all outstanding issues between both countries in a manner of trust and openness, building on the positive developments of their relations. Both ministers underlined their desire to deepen their dialogue on a range of challenges that face the African continent in general and the Nile Basin region in particular. “With regard to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, both ministers agreed, as per the Terms of Reference of the International Panel of Experts, to immediately initiate consultations among Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, on how to move forward with the implementation of its recommendations, including the recommended studies to be conducted. In this regard, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia welcomed the Egyptian initiative to begin consultations amongst the Water Resources and Foreign Ministers of the three countries, at the technical and political levels, to ensure the implementation of the above-mentioned recommendations. “The Egyptian Foreign Minister expressed Egypt’s concerns regarding the possible effects of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on Egypt’s water use. The Ethiopian Foreign Minister, on his part, assured his Egyptian counterpart that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which will be used for power generation purposes, is being built in a way that addresses Egypt’s water security concerns. In such context, both Ministers agreed to take into account the developmental interests of Ethiopia as well as the water security concerns of downstream countries. “Both Ministers, in a spirit of brotherly relations and mutual understanding, agreed to embark on consultations at the technical and political levels, with the participation of the Republic of the Sudan, to implement in a speedy manner the International Panel of Experts’ recommendations. In this context, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia reiterated Ethiopia’s previous position, which is committed to a win-win approach as the basis for future cooperation. “At the end of their consultation, both sides agreed to exert the maximum effort to strengthen the bilateral relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Both ministers stressed the need to continue the dialogue and communication with each other in order to follow up on the outcome of this meeting. In this context, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia accepted the invitation by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt to visit Cairo in the near future.” ..State Minister, Ambassador Berhane Gebrechristos briefs the Diplomatic Corps On Wednesday this week, Ambassador Berhane, State Minister of Foreign Affairs, briefed the Diplomatic Corps on the meeting between Dr Tedros and Egypt’s Foreign Minister and on Ethiopia’s position on the Nile and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Ambassador Berhane explained how the Government of Ethiopia was committed to ensuring mutual benefit from the project among the three countries: Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. Ethiopia had, on its own initiative invited in good faith and in a transparent manner the two downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, to form a Tripartite International Panel of Experts, to share all the available information on the on-going Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project. The aim was to build confidence and trust and work together to address some of the concerns of the two downstream countries. This step to foster cooperation and build confidence among the three countries reinforced Ethiopia’s contribution to enhance transparent consultation on the use of the shared waters. Ambassador Berhane pointed out that nowhere else had such efforts been made and the final International Panel report had put this on record, underlining its appreciation of the initiative. The Ministers of Water Affairs of the three countries had agreed to form an International Panel of Experts. This was made up of ten members, two experts each from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan and four international experts. The Ministers had also agreed on terms of reference and rules of procedure. The former stated that the mandate of the Panel was to review the available study documents of the GERD to identify the benefits that would accrue to all three countries and potential impact on the two downstream countries, identify possible gaps and recommend further actions or studies that might require action by the Government of Ethiopia or jointly by the three countries, and to submit a final report to the respective Governments for consideration. The International Panel of Experts submitted its final report of its deliberations to the respective Governments on May 31st, covering the benefits of the GERD to the three countries, the potential impact on the two downstream countries and recommendations to the respective Governments on some concerns that might need to be addressed during the on-going construction of the GERD. Ambassador Berhane told the members of the Diplomatic Corps that the main findings of the report: that the GERD project was being undertaken in line with internationally acceptable design criteria and standards; that significant benefits will accrue to all the three basin countries; and that the project would not have a significant impact on the two downstream countries. The report noted that benefits for the three countries would include: the provision of clean energy in the Nile basin and the region as a whole; the storage at the GERD will provide a new source of water for the system; regulation by the GERD saves significant water from overbank flow and floodplain loss; sediment reduction will be highly beneficial to infrastructures downstream, extending the useful life of dams in Sudan and Egypt significantly; substantial dredging costs will be saved in Sudan, and frequent flooding in Sudan will be sharply reduced as a result of the GERD. Beyond all this, Ambassador Berhane noted the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is a special project, financed by the Government and peoples of Ethiopia. It is something that is deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of all Ethiopians; its construction will continue without interruption. Ambassador Berhane pointed out that the Government had taken the initiative for the project under the leadership and guidance of the late Prime Minister Meles, firmly believing that the GERD would benefit all three countries. He stressed that the Sudan Government had, of course, now fully confirmed that it believed the project would be of real benefit to Sudan. Ethiopia believes, and has been working on this basis, that the interests of Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt are compatible. Ethiopia is fully aware of the level of Egyptian dependency on the Nile water and the sensitivity of the Egyptian people on the issue. In return it expects Egyptians to understand that Ethiopia has the right to use its resources. The Ambassador added that Ethiopia believed that if there is sufficient political will to enable all the Nile basin states to manage and use the river with a sense of mutual benefit, and in an inclusive manner, then there is enough for all the riparian countries and even more. Ethiopia, said Ambassador Berhane, sees the Nile as a bridge to further economic integration and cooperation, supporting Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance, rather than creating mistrust. In this respect, Ambassador Berhane thanked the Diplomatic Corps and partner countries for their support for Ethiopia`s internationally accepted and principled efforts. Ethiopia would, he emphasized, continue to ensure and foster transparency, adequate understanding and mutual confidence among the three countries over the GERD. Referring to the meeting of the two Foreign Ministers, Ambassador Berhane said the discussions were held in a spirit of friendly relations and mutual understanding. It was very constructive that they agreed to embark on consultations at political and technical levels with the participation of Sudan to implement recommendations of the International Panel as soon as possible. In addition, both countries had agreed to work cooperatively and to implement the recommendations made by the International Panel and conduct further consultations. The friendly spirit of the talks was appreciated by both sides. Regarding the Comprehensive Framework Agreement which was ratified by the Ethiopian Parliament on Thursday (June 13th), Ambassador Berhane pointed out that Ethiopia had delayed this procedure for a year at the request of Egypt until Egypt had an elected Government. It had done so willingly in the interests of cooperation and mutual benefit. He pointed out that the Framework Agreement had been signed by Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda in 2009, and Egypt, of course, is still in negotiation over it. There was, of course, no relationship between the GERD project and the Comprehensive Framework Agreement, which is a multilateral agreement in which all the riparian countries should be involved. Ethiopia has ratified it, as the agreement is crucial to ensure eventual equitable utilization of the Basin’s natural resources. He said Ethiopia believed the other countries will now ratify the Agreement shortly, and it still hoped Sudan and Egypt will follow the example of the other riparian states.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 00:35:11 +0000
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