Prime Minister Hailemariam meets a Special Envoy from Kuwait Prime Minister Hailemariam received the Special Envoy of the Amir of Kuwait, Mohammed Abdullah Abu Al Hassan, last Friday (August 2). The Special Envoy delivered a message from the Amir of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jabir Al-Sabah, and briefed the Prime Minister on the preparations for the Third Africa-Arab Summit which is being held in Kuwait City November 19-20. He emphasized Kuwait sought the support of the Prime Minister as Chair of the African Union and Leader of a friendly country, for a successful conclusion to the Summit. Prime Minister Hailemariam told the Envoy that preparations, on both sides, appeared to be progressing well. He said he would do whatever necessary in his capacity as Chairperson of the African Union, to realize the objectives of the Summit. He took the opportunity to thank the Amir for his last visit to Ethiopia and the African Union Commission. The Prime Minister, underlining that the strong foundation of the relationship between Ethiopia and Kuwait had been laid by the late Prime Minister Meles, and he noted that his own first visit to the Middle East had been to the State of Kuwait. Political goodwill on both sides helped to expand relations. Ethiopia, he said, valued its cooperation with the State of Kuwait and wished to implement the different agreements signed by the two countries expeditiously. He told the Envoy that the investment potential in Ethiopia for Kuwaiti business people was enormous, and cooperation with Kuwait especially in the agricultural 7 sector and in food security was important to support development efforts in Ethiopia. The Prime Minister emphasized that the political and macroeconomic stability of Ethiopia combined with its investment potential, ranging from agriculture to manufacturing, would help businesses in both countries mutually benefit from the untapped opportunities. Energy prices and labor costs in Ethiopia, he underlined, were still very low and the manufacturing sector remained highly profitable. With respect to Africa- Arab cooperation, the Prime Minister told the Envoy that both sides had failed to use their potential to exploit joint developments. It was now time to change this, to use financial resources from the Arab world to build infrastructure and develop agriculture in Africa to the benefit of both the Arab World and Africa. He pointed out that companies and contractors of Arab countries could sue the funds of their sovereign banks to create jobs and generate profits by working in Africa. Some 70% of the population in Africa is under 30, and the continent is exerting major efforts to transform the economies of member states, and to concentrate on manufacturing and high-tech development. The situation would certainly benefit Arab investors who are geographically and culturally closer to African countries than all other areas, he emphasized. The Special Envoy said that for the Amir of KKuwait Ethiopia was a country that showed its friendship to the Kuwaiti people not only in good times but also during times of difficulty, particularly during the aggression of Iraq. The road map of cooperation between Ethiopia and Kuwait was agreed at the higher levels and urged the two countries to further implement theirsigned agreements. The Envoy called for the establishment of a Joint Ministerial Commission to help follow-up on the implementation of any agreements. He also emphasized the need to look closely at the opportunities for doing business and utilize them. He said Ethiopia was an icon of stability in Africa and its infrastructure made it an excellent destination for Kuwaiti investment in food products, but still needed to be appreciated fully by investors. The Envoy said Kuwait and Ethiopia needed to work closely to produce a successful outcome of the Summit this time round. In this regard, Kuwait was happy to see the items being identified for future cooperation were focusing on partnership development and investment. He said the Amir hoped to get the advice of the Prime Minister on specific items of cooperation as well as the preparation of the Summit. He wanted the outcome of the Summit to make a real difference to Arab-Africa cooperation, and this would not happen without the visionary leadership of Ethiopia, he said. Prime Minister Hailemariam noted that in regard to programs and projects of cooperation Africa was well positioned as NEPAD has already studied infrastructural, agricultural and other regional development projects aiming at integration in the continent. He said Africa had had discussions with the BRICS states in these areas. This could be replicated for the Afro-Arab Summit where we could focus on railways, roads, power generation and other infrastructure projects, he said. The Prime Minister also emphasized the need to solve the problems of economic malaise since they were the root cause of every political upheaval: “Whenever the economic situation gets worse and jobs are affected, political problems become grave”, he said, “it is, therefore, important to make every effort towards easing economic problems through expansion of investment and trade.”
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 05:04:19 +0000
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