Monrovia, Liberia - President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says her visit to the Republic of Benin is an opportunity to discuss issues related to bilateral, sub-regional, and regional development, as well as issues of global concern. The President said she came to share ideas with her colleague and others on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, where she served as one of three co-chairs of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel, as well as the African High-Level Committee she is currently chairing. “We are pleased to be here in your beautiful country because it provides us an opportunity to improve cooperation between our two countries, to also discuss issues of common concern to our regional and continental development, and to share ideas on the Post-2015 Global Agenda,” President Sirleaf told journalists at a brief press stakeout at the Aeroport International Cardinal Bernardin Gantin de Cadjehoun (International Airport Cardinal Bernadin Gantin of Cotonou). According to a dispatch from Cotonou, the Liberian leader, who arrived there at noon, Tuesday, August 21, is on a two-day State and Working Visit at the invitation of her colleague, the President of Benin, His Excellency Dr. Thomas Yayi Boni. She was met on arrival by President Boni who provided a 21-gun salute and a tumultuous red-carpet welcome. During a meeting between the two leaders at the Presidential Palace, President Sirleaf emphasized that for a country like Liberia, long-term progress lies in sub-regional and regional cooperation and integration. “Among ourselves in West Africa and beyond, until we have the interconnectivity in our infrastructure – our road systems, power systems, our communication systems – each one of us will be marginalized in terms of our access to world capital and our participation in global trade,” she stressed, adding that countries can do that, thereby broadening their markets to be able to pursue economies based on comparative advantage, and the visit to Benin was to strengthen that cooperation. In 2007, President Sirleaf visited Benin, during which the two countries signed a number of agreements including: an Agreement on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation; Agreement of the Establishment of a Joint Commission of Cooperation; and a Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Liberia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Integration, the French Speaking World and the Benin Citizens Abroad. Again in September 2009, President Sirleaf visited Benin where the two Governments signed the following documents: Cooperation Agreement between the two Governments in the field of Culture and Arts; and Cooperation Agreement in the field of Professional Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research. The Liberian leader called her current visit another opportunity to kick-start the implementation of these Cooperation Agreements. Later on Wednesday, President Sirleaf, one of three former co-chairs of the High Level Panel of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, and current chair of the Post-2015 Development Agenda for Africa, participate in an interactive forum with a cross-section of Beninese citizens and other stakeholders on the theme of “Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals: Priorities and Challenges.” She discussed the draft document, and took note of suggestions advanced by the audience for inclusion in the final document from the African perspective. In the evening, President Sirleaf attended a State Dinner hosted by her colleague, President Boni, during which she received the Certificate of Honor bestowed on her by the Grand Master of the National Order of Benin in September 2009. At that occasion, the Liberian leader was awarded Benin’s highest ranked award, Great Cross of the National Order of Benin. The elaborate ceremony was interspersed with displays of Benin’s cultural exhibition, music and cuisines. The State Visit continues on Thursday, August 22, with a visit to Songhai Center, an agricultural center. President Sirleaf and delegation are expected to return home later in the afternoon. - See more at: emansion.gov.lr/2press.php?news_id=2696&related=7&pg=sp#sthash.BvM4Qk7I.dpuf
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 16:43:48 +0000
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